Nehanda Radio
18
January 2008
The following is a statement issued by Guruve North MP David
Butau who
recently fled to United Kingdom.
'After having made several
attempts to bring the Governor of the Central
Bank to explain to the Budget
Committee, I took a risky decision of going it
alone to expose, what I
believed to be gross violation of trust placed upon
the Governor by the head
of state.
There were three very clear issues that seemed awkward
namely;
1. Resignation of Premier Bank Chief Executive Office, Exodus
Makumbe in
very unclear circumstances.
2. Some illegal instructions
from RBZ to heads of Banks not to reject so
called Mechanization Funds that
were meant to facilitate parallel market
activities by both Premier Bank and
Flatwater.
3. What appeared to be a club relationship between RBZ and a
dubious tractor
merchant called Michigan Tractors of South AFrica. The only
way to establish
facts was to infiltrate the intricate net of parallel
market forex dealing.
Some staff at the RBZ and money laundering unit
offered themselves for the
sake of protecting the integrity of the head of
state, the party and the
government.
Joseph Manjoro came to my
private office several times as we attempted to
set up the
transactions.
Towards the beginning of November 2007, we began what we
all knew would be
hazardous and possibly perilous road to stop the rot at
the Central Bank.
Although we stumbled upon some dirty personal issues, I
feel this should not
be part of my business.
It is on the basis of
those findings that I call upon the Authorities to:
1. Publish all
transactions between RBZ and Premier Bank with an alternative
to publish
proper audited overnight cover provided by the Central Bank.
2. In what
capacity did the Governor of the Central Bank offer on several
occasions to
rescue Premier Bank from liquidity problems.
3. Why were the police not
called in to investigate the so called wrong
doing of Exodus Makumbe, if
they were indeed of criminal nature.
4. Zimbabwe has five major and
well-established franchise holdings of the
following brand of
tractors:
a) Farmec - Massey Ferguson
b) Tarrys - Landini
c) Sabata
- John Deere
d) Bain - New Holland
e) Tanaka - Renault
Zimbabwe is
not under economic sanctions from any of these manufactures and
merchants,
so why did the RBZ in the name of some choose Michigan Tractors,
which banks
with Standard Bank of South Africa with a branch in Mafikan of
all the major
business links of South Africa.
Once again, if we were to do an
introspection, one then says if all these
decisions were taken in good
faith, then the RBZ must out of obligation
publish the methodology used in
selecting Michigan Tractors for the country
of more than USD 5 million, to
sue tractors and other agricultural equipment
(some of which would be
imported from Zimbabwe and then re-exported on a
higher margin).
On
the same note, Michigan Tracors must explain why it makes payments on
behalf
of certain RBZ officials especially those that claim to be holier
than all
of us.
The receipt of Z$510 billion from RBZ via Flatwater was the
clearest
testimony that something was very wrong at the Central Bank.
Although others
may view this as source of blame worthiness on my part, I
took the stupid
risk because I knew it would unsettle the authorities at the
Central Bank
the moment they got wind of my involvement. RBZ gave Exchange
Control
Approval to Flatwater and Mr Musakwa is very aware of approval,
which was
purported to have been released to Flatwater becuase Flatwater
claimed to
have offshore free funds. Indeed at some point Musakwa influenced
the
release of Manjoro from Police custody.
The only certificate of
clean hands the Governor can issue is to publish:
1) the invoices that it
received from Flatwater and the amount of foreign
exchange that it received
against those
2) RBZ should ask Michigan tractors to publish the actual
value it received
from various sources who they went on to pay over and
above the tractor and
implement suppliers.
If these questions are
answered, I will take the first plane home.'
David Butau (MP)
The Vigil has contacted Charing Cross
Police about threats to disrupt the
Vigil on Saturday. The following is our
confirmatory email to them. "To
confirm our conversation today about the
demonstrations on Saturday: We
suspect the group behind the rival
demonstration is responsible for a
campaign to misinform our supporters that
the Vigil has been cancelled and
as you know the Vigil is going ahead as
usual this Saturday. This group has
refused to co-operate with the Vigil and
has drawn up a programme which they
seek to impose on us. It is like
allowing the Socialist Workers' Party to
stage a demonstration at a Labour
Party gathering. We will do our best to
ensure that the day passes
peacefully but fear that they are trying to
disrupt us. They talk of
bringing a thousand people but we suspect that -
like the supposed presence
of the Archbishop of York - this is just fantasy
(we have it on good
authority that the Archbishop will not be in London this
Saturday). Anyway,
we will be grateful for a police presence. As you know we
have asked for
this very seldom in going on six years. Thank you for your
help and support
during this long campaign."
Nehanda Radio
18 January 2008
By Daniel Molokele (Fortune
Mguni)
In 1997, I decided to pass on a chance to attain the status of
being 'one of
the founding members' of the MDC. Since then I have never
joined any other
political party up to today. I had several reasons for all
this. I intend to
highlight them in my forthcoming book on my role and
contribution to the
student movement of Zimbabwe .
But for the
purposes of this present debate, I will immediately highlight
one of
them.
I decided not to join the MDC because I knew that it had the
ultimate duty
to engage the status quo and help to move the Zimbabwean
political
dispensation forward.
Inevitably, such a task involved two
asymmetrical processes of engagement
with Zanu PF. The first option was an
outright victory over the ruling
party. (Witness the MMD's experience with
UNIP in Zambia )
The second one was by way for compromise in the event of
the failure of the
MDC to completely dislodge the ruling party.
The
elections of both 2000 and 2002 were clearly dominated by high hopes and
expectations of an outright victory on the part of the MDC. Unfortunately as
history would have it, it was not to be. Zanu PF managed to survive the MDC
juggernaut by hook or crook. The rest as they say is history.
Be that
as it may, a last ditch effort was further presented to the MDC in
March
2005 but as we might all recall, the MDC proved by then that it had
lost
much of its original venom and Zanu PF this time had an easier task of
brushing off the challenge from the MDC.
The issue of the Senate
elections then had the effect of further dividing
the MDC and in the final
analysis gave the upper hand to Zanu PF.
Since the October 2005 debacle,
it was always going to be harder for the MDC
to stick to the first option.
It is thus hardly a BIG surprise that as I
write today, the dominant process
at the moment is now option B.
Both MDC and Zanu PF need to compromise in
order to move forward. Zimbabwe
has virtually come to a standstill. The
difference between the two political
parties has narrowed up so much that
they are both presently facing the risk
of political irrelevance. Neither of
the two can honestly claim to have the
full confidence of the electorate.
Let alone the greater Zimbabwean
populace.
The fact that at least
three million adults and the gist of the electorate
are now based outside
the country as the so-called Diaspora further
underline the failure of the
Zimbabwean political process in the past
decade.
The public
confidence in the electoral system of Zimbabwe is now at an all
time low. It
is doubtful that given the recent history of lack of
credibility to the
national polls, the forthcoming ones will even be able to
garner sufficient
interest from a weary electorate. The reality is that the
voters are
suffering from a serious bout of election fatigue and APATHY
could prove to
be the decisive winner.
Something then ought to give!
In this
regard, one should seriously take note of the words given to the
Parliament
by the likes of Patrick Chinamasa, Joram Gumbo, Thokozani Khupe,
Gibson
Sibanda and Welshman Ncube on the eve of the unprecedented unanimous
18th
Constitutional Amendment. They all clearly held the notion that as long
as
the political impasse continued to persist, then both Zanu and MDC risked
being accused of political sterility and stagnation. They both risked
outright rejection by the long suffering masses of Zimbabwe who have borne
the brunt of the failure of the national electoral system to produce a clear
political leadership for our people.
Here are some excerpts from the
reports of the parliamentary debate at that
time:
“This (agreement by
Zanu-PF and the MDC on the amendments) should be
regarded as the first step
of a holistic resolution to the Zimbabwe crisis,"
said Ms Khupe.
She
said the negotiating teams should deliberate further on other important
aspects, including the overhaul of the security, media and electoral
laws.
Bulawayo North-East MP and secretary general of the Mutambara
faction
Professor Welshmen Ncube also supported the Bill.
"I fully
and unconditionally endorse the remarks made by my colleague (Ms
Khupe). I
confirm what the Honourable Minister of Justice has said in his
statement in
respect of the process and content of the negotiations between
the
Government and Zanu-PF on one hand, and the MDC in its collective
sense,"
Prof Ncube said.
He said the two parties had taken the right steps to
address the
socio-economic challenges and the two leaders of the MDC
factions were
impressed with the progress being made by the
dialogue.
"As the negotiating teams move on with the rest of the agenda
(of the
talks), electoral laws, AIPPA (Access to Information and Protection
of
Privacy Act) and, indeed, the question of sanctions, they are on the
agenda
and we will deal with them. We hope to find each other.
"We
believe we cannot continue to conduct politics for the sake of politics.
We
should begin to conduct politics for the service of the people," Prof
Ncube
said.
Nkulumane legislator and deputy leader in the Mutambara faction Mr
Gibson
Sibanda also welcomed the landmark development, saying the nation
should now
collectively find a lasting solution to its
problems.
"Today is the beginning of a historic moment in this House.
Indeed, I find
today that between the two parties represented here we can
find the solution
to the crisis in Zimbabwe . We are in the process of
making history and
finding solutions to the crisis," he said.
Mr
Sibanda said despite the divisions between Zanu-PF and the MDC, the two
parties were showing maturity and addressing their differences.
"I
support and add my voice to the smooth passage of the Constitution
Amendment
Number 18 Bill and continued dialogue between Zanu-PF and MDC.
Indeed, we
are united as Zimbabweans," he said.
Zanu-PF Chief Whip and MP for
Mberengwa West Cde Joram Gumbo said
yesterday's events showed Zimbabweans
were level-minded people who could sit
together and resolve their own
problems internally.
"We from this side of the House want to say the
chickens have come to roost.
We realise now that we are Zimbabweans. We, as
Zimbabweans, are able to come
together and solve our issues," said Cde
Gumbo.
On the other hand, other leadership paradigms such as the
notion of a “third
force’ were already being whispered around the darker
alleys of the
corridors of power at the expense of both the political
parties.
Zanu could not decisively defeat the MDC and the MDC could not
decisively
dislodge Zanu PF and so as political logic demands, the two had
no option
but to reach out for some form of compromise.
This is not a
unique political experience at all.
Here in South Africa , we all know
that in the late 1980s, a process of
engagement between the apartheid regime
and the nationalist movement was
begun against all odds. By 1990, the
process had led to the unbanning of
such crucial ‘terrorist’ organizations
such as the ANC, SACP and the PAC.
Not only that, political activists
returned from exile and those that were
in solitary confinement were
released to actively lead the process of
political engagement between the
hitherto bitterest of political enemies.
Need I say more about the
process of CODESA and the setting up of the
Constitutional Assembly that
culminated in the process of the certification
of the 1996 democratic
Constitution of South Africa?
But let me bring the above point further
home.
We all know that the Patriotic Front (as represented in the
battlefield by
Zanla and Zipra) had to engage the powers that be in the
Rhodesian
government.
We all know that Lord Carrington had to lead
the process of negotiation that
took several months at Lancaster House. We
all know that in the final
analysis a new nation called Zimbabwe was born on
the mortal bedside of
another one called Rhodesia in April 1980. It was
compromise that lead to
such kind of a breakthrough amid the internecine
nature of the armed
liberation movement. Over 40000 innocent civilians lost
their lives in that
bloody national political conflict.
After the
euphoria of independence we all know that all hell broke loose in
Midlands
and Matabeleland as the struggle for political hegemony between the
two
former Patriotic Front allies escalated. Between 1982 and 1987, over
20000
innocent civilians lost their precious lives in a political struggle
that
had huge tribalistic or ethnic overtones. (The great Ndebele versus
Shona
debate)
But still in December 1987, after several months of secret
negotiations, as
facilitated by the late President Canaan Banana,
Zimbabweans and indeed the
rest of the international community was
pleasantly shocked to see Mugabe and
Nkomo sign the Unity Accord that ended
the many years of senseless bloody
conflict.
To the extent that the
ANC managed to compromise with the Nationalist Party;
the Patriotic Front
with the Rhodesian Front and Zapu with Zanu PF; it
should thus not come as a
surprise that both MDC and Zanu PF are now on the
verge of coming up with a
political compromise that might initiate the
process of unlocking the
political deadlock that has crippled the nation’s
once thriving
economy.
Both MDC and Zanu PF owe the people of Zimbabwe a form of
compromise that
will help heal the nation and open up the society for a
broader national
discourse.
Compromise, in whatever form, is the
necessary evil that both parties have
to face. It is a bitter pill that will
ultimately prove to part of a
political panacea to heal the socio-economic
malaise that has bedeviled our
once prosperous country.
Just last
week I passed by some desperate fellow countrymen at Marabstad
Home Affairs
Department in Pretoria and also, as usual met the desperate
hand of
Zimbabwean blind beggars at several traffic lights and thought to
myself;
why are we as Zimbabweans allowing this humiliation and indignity of
out
people to continue unabated?
Yes there is the necessary national
ideological debate that needs to
continue. We cannot avoid it at all. But it
belongs to those that have
access to resources such as the internet and its
concomitant discussion
groups or forums. But how about those of us that are
presently wallowing up
at the Lindela Deportation Center , Marabstad,
Hillbrow, Sun City prison
complex etcetera.
Don’t they deserve a
better chance of a peaceful life back home in Zimbabwe
at all?
I
verily believe that if the leading politicians cast their petty
differences
aside and focus on nation building, those long suffering
Zimbabweans will
get another chance to be willingly associated with the once
‘PROUDLY
ZIMBABWEAN’ brand.
Last but not least, let me end by quoting Morgan
Tsvangirai. I was less than
three meters away from his podium speech in
Harare on 31st July 2006 when he
said these immortal words to the delegates
at the launch of the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign.
“Let us as politicians
not listen to our voices but that of the people. Our
people are saying stop
dividing us and start uniting us.”
So if it means that Zanu PF and MDC
have to agree to a form of political
compromise to end the crippling impasse
then let it be. The time for that
has come. The time for that is
NOW!
The MDC has not been Zanunised. Neither has Zanu PF been
MDCised!!!
The political reality we all have to face is that the
inevitable process of
COMPROMISE has eventually dawned yet again on the
Zimbabwean political
landscape and hopefully it will ultimately prove to be
for our own good.
* Daniel Molokele is a Human Rights Lawyer and
Civic Society leader who is
based in South Africa . He is also a former
student leader in Zimbabwe where
he held several positions including that of
being the Vice President of the
1997-98 ZINASU Executive and the President
of the University of Zimbabwe
Students Union in 1998-99. Molokele was
recently appointed as the
Co-ordinator of the Global Zimbabwe Forum, a new
organisation that will be
based in Geneva and serve as an international
platform for the Zimbabwean
Diaspora communities across the world. He writes
in his own personal
capacity.
Famine Early Warning System Network
Date: 17 Jan 2008
Food scarcity, high prices
undermine urban food security as heavy rains compromise seasonal
progress
Widespread food insecurity will continue to affect 4.1 million
Zimbabweans
out of the projected population of 11.8 million, through the
first harvests
in March 2008. While ongoing food assistance programs are
expected to meet
all of the assessed needs in rural areas, targeting close
to four million
beneficiaries, only one third of the one million urban
Zimbabweans estimated
to be food insecure are receiving formal food
assistance. In urban areas,
high levels of food insecurity persist and are
likely to worsen as the
hunger season continues, due to food shortages on
formal markets,
exceptionally high and rising prices on parallel markets,
and inefficient
maize procurement, distribution, and pricing
policies.
In addition to food shortages, low employment, and high
inflation, urban
households must cope with declining access to public
services such as water,
sewage, electricity, transportation, and waste
collection, which has not
kept pace with the over– crowding in peri– urban
areas that has increased
pressure on a deteriorating infrastructure. The
decline in public services
and infrastructure has a direct impact on public
health, food utilization,
and incomes. Sewage bursts are common in suburbs
where the housing density
has increased significantly. In December, 459
cases of cholera were reported
in two high– density suburbs of Harare,
attributed by city health officials
to the decline in garbage collection,
sewer blockages, and erratic water
supplies. The situation is similar in
other urban areas.
Planting rains began early this season in most of the
country. Government
estimates indicate that, midway through December 2007,
farmers had planted
about 32 percent more area under maize than had been
plant around the same
time last season. However, in most of the country,
heavy rains since mid–
December have slowed land preparation and planting,
and promoted weed
growth. Most rivers are at risk of flooding and many low–
lying areas have
already been flooded. Excessive rainfall has also
compromised the growth of
established crops, particularly in low– lying
fields where heavy clay soils
have been water– logged. Fields with lighter,
sandy soils have been leached
of nutrients. Fertilizer is scarce this
season, but even those farmers with
access to fertilizer will not apply it
if the rains continue with the same
intensity. Heavy rains have also
disrupted livelihoods and destroyed homes
and productive assets, including
livestock.
The Department of Agricultural Extension (Agritex) and its
National Early
Warning Unit (NEWU), and a team including the Grain Marketing
Board,
Meteorological Services Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Central
Statistical Office, farmer unions, FAO and FEWS NET, plan a first round crop
assessment from the end of January to early February 2008. FAO, in
collaboration with its NGO partners, plans a post– planting assessment in
February 2008. Both assessments will focus on rural areas and are likely to
provide more information on the impact of the heavy rains on this season’s
crop production.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)
issues alerts to prompt
decision-maker action to prevent or mitigate
potential or actual food
insecurity. The views expressed in this publication
do not necessarily
reflect the view of the United States Agency for
International Development
or the United States Government.
For more
information see: www.fews.net/zimbabwe
Zim Independent
Dumisani Muleya
TALKS between the ruling Zanu PF and the main
opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) to resolve the current
crisis through free and fair
elections collapsed yesterday after President
Robert Mugabe rejected South
African President Thabo Mbeki’s last-ditch bid
to crack the deadlock.
A transitional constitution and the election
date have been the main
sticking points.
The breakdown comes
after Mbeki on Tuesday told the visiting Irish
Prime Minister Bertie Ahern
that a breakthrough in the negotiations was
almost in the bag.
After a meeting with Mbeki, Ahern said he had been told by his host
that a
final agreement could be wrapped up within days.
South African
Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad had also said
on Wednesday "real
movement" had been made in the talks.
However, sources close to
yesterday’s critical meetings in Harare
which involved Mbeki, Mugabe and MDC
faction leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara, said the talks all
but cillapsed after the South African
leader failed to break the
stalemate.
"Mugabe refused to accept a new constitution before the
elections and
to delay the polls in order to implement the final agreement,"
a source who
was in the meeting said. "Practically, this means the talks
have collapsed."
Mbeki, who flew into the capital yesterday morning
on a rescue
mission, left in the evening "empty-handed and frustrated", the
sources
said.
As reported in the Zimbabwe Independent, Zanu PF
on September 5 took a
decision at its politburo meeting not to accept
serious reforms, especially
a new constitution, before the elections. The
sources said Mugabe told Mbeki
yesterday that the elections would go ahead
in March and his regime could
only introduce a new constitution after the
polls.
They said the MDC was now likely to boycott the polls unless
a broad
coalition with a real chance of winning is formed to challenge Zanu
PF.
However, Mbeki as usual claimed yesterday at a press briefing
that
there was progress in the talks. "We came to give a report to President
Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai as well as Arthur Mutambara on how far we have
gone (with the talks). We have listened to the leaders. We are going back to
continue that process. It’s work in progress and very good
progress."
Mbeki said he did not doubt the "commitment on the part
of the
Zimbabwe government to solve problems the country is
facing".
The South African leader is soon expected to present a
report to the
Sadc troika on politics, defence and security on the state of
the talks.
Mbeki and the current troika chair Angolan President Eduardo dos
Santos do
not see eye-to-eye over South Africa’s botched mediation in the
Angola civil
war in which Pretoria tried to accommodate rebel leader Jonas
Savimbi in
their diplomacy when Luanda thought he should be militarily
crushed.
Mbeki last visited Zimbabwe on November 22 to pressure
Mugabe and MDC
leaders to speed up the talks after several deadlines for the
final
agreement were missed.
Then he said he was "very
confident" a solution to the country’s
political stalemate would be found
soon.
The sources said Mbeki had a tough four-hour meeting with
Mugabe at
State House where he tried hard to press his counterpart to make
concessions
on a new transitional constitution and a date for elections
beyond March,
but failed. The meeting was held in a "tense and disturbing
atmosphere", it
was said. Mugabe, the sources confirmed, had promised Mbeki
in September he
would accept a new constitution before the elections if the
MDC supported
his party’s constitutional amendments.
Mbeki told
the MDC leaders then that they should support the Zanu PF
constitutional
amendments because Mugabe had agreed to introduce a new
constitution before
the polls. Mbeki as the Sadc mediator underwrote the
deal.
Mbeki also met with Tsvangirai and Mutambara yesterday at the South
African
ambassador’s residence. Mbeki had brought with him his three
facilitators,
South African Local Government minister Sydney Mufamadi,
Director-General in
the Presidency Reverend Frank Chikane, and his legal
advisor Mujanku
Gumbi.
Zanu PF negotiators are Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas
Goche, while
the MDC delegates are Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti assisted
by Priscillah
Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Lovemore Moyo. The facilitators and
negotiators
were present yesterday, although they did not attend their
principals’
meetings.
The sources said Mbeki, whose mediation
was significantly weakened by
his recent defeat by Jacob Zuma at the ANC
conference, tried hard to crack
the deadlock but failed after Mugabe refused
to adopt a new constitution or
postpone elections to allow for the
implementation of issues already agreed
upon in the talks. These issues are
at the heart of the deadlock.
As revealed in the Independent in a
series of reports from September
to December, Zanu PF and the MDC have
already agreed on all the agenda items
which included a constitution,
electoral reforms, security laws, media
legislation and the political
climate. However, they hit a serious roadblock
on transitional mechanisms
and the implementation of the agreement,
particularly a new constitution
before elections.
Since Mbeki started his involvement in the
Zimbabwe crisis in 2000, it
has become increasingly clear that he has no
diplomatic clout to influence
Mugabe. As revealed in a recent biography by
Mark Gevisser, Thabo Mbeki: A
Dream Deferred, Mbeki actually regards Mugabe
as a father-figure and has
been in very close contact with him since he came
to power in 1980. Mbeki’s
long comradeship with Mugabe apparently rendered
him ineffective in his
ill-fated mediation.
Yesterday’s crucial
visit to Harare was probably Mbeki’s last chance
before he leaves office
early next year to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis —
which he has been grappling
with for nearly eight years. Mbeki’s failure on
the Zimbabwe situation
further blights his legacy already blemished by his
disastrous intervention
in the Ivory Coast civil war and recent defeat in
the ANC.
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure
SERIOUS misgivings in Zanu PF, the MDC and civic
society have emerged
over former Finance minister Simba Makoni’s capacity to
produce a split in
Zanu PF to beat President Robert Mugabe in this year’s
presidential
election.
Information to hand shows Makoni and his
group are making moves to
split from Zanu PF and challenge Mugabe without
working with other
opposition forces. They have rejected a proposal by
opposition and civil
society groups to form a broad alliance against Zanu PF
and Mugabe.
However, sources this week said disgruntled Zanu PF
bigwigs pushing
for a splinter party, both MDC factions and some members of
the civic
society, doubted Makoni’s capacity to lead a split from Zanu
PF.
The sources said Makoni’s handlers initially made approaches to
the
MDC faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai which reportedly told him to first
cause a stir in Zanu PF by resigning to show that he was serious in his bid
to lead the alliance.
After failing to secure support from the
Tsvangirai faction, Makoni’s
supporters decided to go it alone.
Makoni, who was expected this week to roll out a programme to
challenge the
current leadership of Zanu PF, is now on a mission to sell his
project to
the ruling party’s politburo. Sources in the party yesterday said
Makoni was
scheduled to meet retired army general Solomon Mujuru who leads a
Zanu PF
faction that is reportedly opposed to Mugabe’s continued hold on
power.
Makoni, who lacks a grassroots support base, largely
draws his backing
from the Mujuru faction in Zanu PF. A few Mugabe loyalists
in the party also
support him.
It is said Makoni’s group has
lined up a number of meetings with Zanu
PF politburo members to seek their
support.
But there are doubts about Makoni’s ability to persuade
Zanu PF
politburo members and structures to break away from the ruling
party. The
sources said some members of the Mujuru faction were arguing that
Makoni was
not a Zanu PF heavyweight and commanded insufficient support to
challenge
Mugabe.
"Mujuru and his group think that Makoni is
the right candidate because
of his appeal in urban areas, but they are
worried that he does not have the
clout and support base to challenge
Mugabe," a senior Zanu PF official said.
"The camp wants a heavyweight from
Zanu PF to head a coalition, instead of a
Zanu PF splinter group. The main
problem is that Makoni is not influential
in the party."
The
official said the camp was also worried that Makoni was unable to
come out
clearly on his ambitions to become president just weeks before the
election.
This has raised fears he might withdraw from the initiative at the
eleventh
hour, leaving his group in disarray.
"There are genuine fears that
Makoni may decide at the eleventh hour
not to be party to the new formation
as (Rural and Social Amenities minister
Emmerson) Mnangagwa did in 2005,"
the official said.
Mnangagwa reportedly chickened out of a proposed
new party, the United
Peoples Movement (UPM), shortly before its intended
launch in 2005 after he
refused to resign from Zanu PF, arguing it was
better to fight the party
from within.
The intended formation
of the UPM was prompted by the dismissal of six
Zanu PF provincial
chairpersons, among others, by the party for allegedly
taking part in the
famous Tsholotsho Declaration of November 2004 to
"re-arrange the
presidium".
The UPM suffered a stillbirth after Mnangagwa’s refusal
to leave Zanu
PF.
The sources said despite Mujuru’s concerns,
there were some people in
his camp like former permanent secretary and
academic Ibbo Mandaza who
insist that Makoni should lead a party formed from
a breakaway Zanu PF
faction, not an alliance of opposition parties and civil
society groups.
"Mandaza believes that Makoni is the appropriate
candidate. He is of
the opinion that people who will move from Zanu PF will
campaign heavily for
Makoni in the rural areas where he needs support,"
another source said.
MDC-Tsvangirai faction spokesman Nelson
Chamisa yesterday scoffed at
the prospects of an alliance between his party
and Makoni’s formation.
"This is a Zanu PF split which has nothing
to do with the MDC but with
Mugabe’s dictatorship," said Chamisa. "A Zanu PF
implosion is however good
for all democratic forces."
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure/Loughty Dube
RESERVE Bank governor Gideon Gono this
week dismissed as "absolute
laboratory-generated falsehoods" allegations by
fugitive legislator for
Guruve North, David Butau, that he was corrupt and
that the central bank was
involved in graft.
This comes amid
reports that members of the parliamentary portfolio
committee on Budget and
Finance are already lobbying the government to
relieve him of his duties at
the RBZ for alleged corruption.
Butau was the chairperson of the
committee.
In a two-page statement from the UK where he fled, Butau
alleged that
the committee was probing Gono and the central bank for "gross
violation of
trust placed upon the governor by the head of
state".
Butau claimed that he took a risky decision of "going it
alone" to
expose the violations and this culminated in him being involved in
illegal
foreign currency dealings.
He demanded that authorities
publish all transactions between the RBZ
and Premier Bank or alternatively
to make public "proper audited overnight
cover" by the central bank to the
financial institution.
Butau wanted to know in what capacity Gono
allegedly offered on
several occasions to rescue Premier Bank from liquidity
problems.
"Why were the police not called in to investigate the
so-called
wrongdoing of Exodus Makumbe (former Premier Bank CEO) if they
were indeed
of a criminal nature?" read Butau’s statement. "Zimbabwe has
five major and
well established franchise holdings of the following brand of
tractors (a)
Farmec — Massey Fergusson (b) Tarrys — Landani (c) Sabata —
John Deere (d)
Bain — New Holland and (e) Tanaka — Renault."
Butau questioned why the RBZ settled for South Africa’s Michigan
Tractors
for the agricultural mechanisation programmes when Zimbabwe was not
under
economic sanctions from any of the five tractor manufacturers and
merchants.
"My receipt of Z$510 billion from RBZ via Flatwater
was the clearest
testimony that something was very wrong at the central
bank," wrote Butau.
"Although others may view this as a source of
blameworthiness on my part, I
took the stupid risk because I knew it would
unsettle the authorities at the
central bank the moment they got wind of my
involvement."
But Gono in written response to questions by the
Zimbabwe Independent
dismissed Butau’s assertions.
"Please take
note that your sources have supplied you with absolute
laboratory-generated
falsehoods which are nothing but a creation of their
desperate imagination,"
Gono said. "It would be sub-judice, unethical and
unprofessional for me to
comment further on matters that are before
competent courts."
Gono added that the truth would soon come out.
"Soon, the whole
truth will be made public, complete with thorough,
authentic and exhaustive
due diligence, 100% auditable documentation trail
and irrefutable chronology
of events, and it will be up to the public jury
to see it for themselves how
some members of the community were vainly
hoping to hide behind the
smokescreen of wild falsehoods. For now, let the
courts and the Zimbabwe
Republic Police do their job unhindered," Gono said.
Meanwhile, our
Bulawayo bureau reported that the majority members of
the parliamentary
committee were already lobbying to have Gono relieved of
his
duties.
Gono is due to appear before the committee on Monday and is
expected
to name "cash barons" he accused of causing the current cash crisis
in the
country.
The committee also wants Gono to respond to
allegations that the
central bank was involved in corruption.
It emerged this week that the 13-member parliamentary committee, made
up of
five opposition legislators and eight Zanu PF lawmakers, has been
consulting
and has resolved that the central bank chief has more to answer
than merely
revealing his list of those he accuses of hoarding cash.
"Gono is
finished. All members are convinced that he should go as he
has not helped
the country’s economic situation and, depending on the
outcome, we will make
recommendations that he go or recommend that RBZ
operations be
investigated," said one committee member.
The parliamentary
committee has set the ball rolling for a bruising
encounter with Gono by
declaring that proceedings at the Monday meeting will
be open to the
press.
"Everyone at the meeting agreed unanimously that the media
be allowed
to sit throughout the whole proceeding as there is nothing to
hide," said
the committee member.
Another member said they were
aware that Gono would try to defend the
doling out of trillions of dollars
to shelf companies to buy tractors for
the farm mechanisation programme as
part of sanctions-busting.
"We are aware that Gono will allege that
he is busting sanctions if
questioned on why he has been giving dubious
companies cash to buy foreign
currency on the black market. But that is not
an issue because he should
have sought the authority of the Finance ministry
to do that and we are
aware that the Finance minister has no idea of such
deals," said the
committee member.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure
THE battle for control of the Harare Anglican Church
Diocese took a
new twist at the weekend when supporters of expelled former
bishop, Nolbert
Kunonga, allegedly disrupted church services in the
capital.
Church services failed to take place in Belvedere, Warren
Park,
Greendale, Marlborough and Glen View as Kunonga’s supporters insisted
that
he was in charge and that the recently appointed acting bishop,
Sebastian
Bakare, had nothing to do with Harare Diocese.
In
Greendale, Rector Thomas Madeyi was arrested for allegedly
disturbing a
church service that was conducted by Kunonga at St Luke’s,
Greendale,
Church.
However, Madeyi was on Tuesday released after a prosecutor
at the
Harare Magistrates Courts said there was no case to answer for the
rector.
Madeyi’s lawyer, Eric Matinenga, said the prosecutor ruled
that the
state had no tangible evidence against his client.
"The prosecutor said the case was petty and the rector was free to
go,"
Matinenga said.
But information gathered by the Zimbabwe
Independent this week
revealed that Kunonga’s supporters sparked the row
that led to Madeyi’s
arrest.
"Kunonga and crew caused our
rector to be arrested and thrown into the
cells at Rhodesville police
station," said a source.
The source alleged that Kunonga was the
one who fought Madeyi in order
to wrestle vestry keys from him.
"Keys to the church vestry were wrestled from our rector and Kunonga
took
the keys away," the source said.
Another parishioner from the same
church said Kunonga came to their
church uninvited.
"The
recognised Anglican Bishop of the Province of Central Africa, the
Right
Reverend Sebastian Bakare was scheduled to celebrate mass with us on
that
day during a combined 8.00 am service. We got to church just before
8.00 am
and we found Kunonga already in the church with his wife and a
couple of
funny looking people, whom we later learnt were his bodyguards,"
said the
parishioner.
The parishioner said Kunonga threw away wine and
smashed cups and
wafers that were being prepared for the service in full
view of a stunned
congregation.
"As our front servers prepared
for mass and as we waited for Bishop
Bakare and our rector to emerge from
the vestry, Kunonga unashamedly and in
full view of the congregation, stood
up, walked to the altar, grabbed the
wine, cups and wafers, threw them on
the ground, grabbed a chair, placed it
right in front of the altar and sat
cross-legged, defiantly gazing at the
stunned congregation," he
said.
On Monday, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams,
issued a
statement condemning Kunonga for the disturbances at Anglican
churches that
took place last Sunday.
Zim Independent
THE
Zanu PF politburo is expected to meet on Wednesday to deal with a
series of
urgent issues affecting the faction-ridden party amid the looming
spectre of
a break-up ahead of crucial elections in March, it has been
learnt.
The politburo was initially expected to meet on January
30 to discuss
its primary polls to select candidates for the general
election, but the
meeting was brought forward because of the rising
turbulence in the party,
sources this week said.
Zanu PF is
caught in a political storm accompanied by threats by some
of its senior
members to break away and form a splinter party to challenge
President
Robert Mugabe. Speculation is rife that long-serving official and
politburo
member Simba Makoni could lead the break-away group. It is said
that Makoni
is being supported by a Zanu PF faction led by retired army
commander
General Solomon Mujuru.
The politburo will, among other things,
discuss the primary elections
in the context of the March elections, talks
between Zanu PF and the MDC,
and probably events in the party whose
factional cracks appear to be
widening to the point of a possible
split.
The sources said next week’s politburo meeting — the first
after the
party’s extraordinary congress which ended in chaos — is likely to
be heated
like most recent ones because of the lingering controversy over
Mugabe’s
reportedly fraudulent confirmation and endorsement as the party
leader and
presidential candidate.
Senior Zanu PF politburo
members told the Zimbabwe Independent last
month that Mugabe was endorsed in
an unconstitutional and unprocedural
manner at congress. They produced
strong evidence to show this, which Mugabe
and Zanu PF failed to
deny.
The Zanu PF congress ended in chaos after Vice-President
Joseph Msika
and party chair John Nkomo almost walked out in protest when
war veterans
leader Jabulani Sibanda tried to address congress after he was
told he could
not because he was still suspended from the party. — Staff
Writer.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure/ Jesilyn Dendere
ZANU PF apologist and founder of the
Destiny of Afrika Network,
Reverend Obediah Musindo, this week filed an
urgent High Court application
seeking an order to bar a Harare regional
magistrate court from continuing
with his rape trial.
Musindo
allegedly raped his maid on five occasions in 2004 but the
case only went to
court two years later. The clergyman is pleading not
guilty, arguing that
political enemies trumped up the rape allegation
because they were opposed
to his backing of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
PF.
Last
year, regional magistrate Judith Tsamba threw out an application
by Musindo
for discharge at the close of the state case, prompting the
clergyman to
appeal to the High Court.
Justice Tedius Karwi last year also
dismissed Musindo’s appeal and
said the regional court should proceed with
the trial.
Musindo immediately appealed to the Supreme Court
against Karwi’s
ruling.
He then applied before Tsamba to stop
the trial in the lower court
until the Supreme Court hands down judgement on
his appeal.
Tsamba dismissed the application and continuation of
Musindo’s trial
commenced a fortnight ago.
"I submit that I
stand to be prejudiced should the trial proceed to
its conclusion as I would
not have any remedy on appeal in the event of a
conviction," read Musindo’s
application. "The point I am making is that even
if it is found on appeal
that I should have been acquitted at the close of
the case for the
prosecution and that the trial court misdirected itself in
putting me to my
defence, nothing will be able to be done to remedy the
injustice."
Musindo said the relief he was seeking from the
High Court was meant
to stop the regional court proceedings pending
exhaustion of the matter
before the Supreme Court.
"I am not
seeking to stall the trial merely as a gimmick to buy time
but I believe the
matter to be determined by the Supreme Court is important
as it is going to
be a precedent in cases of a similar nature," Musindo said
in the
application.
"Further and most importantly there is a possibility
that I may be
prejudiced should the trial continue as in the event of a
conviction the
appeal court will not be able to set me free even if a
finding is made that
I ought to have been acquitted at the close of the
state case."
Musindo wants the Supreme Court application considered
urgent as his
case before the regional court was due to continue
tomorrow.
"I also submit that the matter should be considered as
urgent in that
any delay in hearing the application will result in the trial
continuing on
January 19," Musindo said. "It is my submission that there are
very high
prospects of the Supreme Court granting me the relief that I am
seeking."
Zim Independent
PATRICK Conway, in his paper entitled The Economics of Cash Shortage
concluded that cash shortages were a manifestation of shallow financial
markets. His conclusions were based on analysis of cash shortages which
occurred in countries in the former Soviet Union during the 90’s as
perestroika and glasnost took hold there.
In most cases, the
preferred policy responses to cash crises were
printing more money (currency
emission) and/ or cash rationing. However,
these policies failed to achieve
the intended goal of eliminating the cash
shortages without causing
instabilities in the macro economy. Currency
emission led to accelerating
inflation while restrictions worsened the
situation.
In
Zimbabwe the major cause of the current cash crisis seems to be the
hyperinflation which has vastly increased the transactional demand for
money. Rapid monetary expansion, declining investment and production levels,
apparent indexation of prices to volatile parallel market exchange rates and
adverse expectations have also contributed to the problem.
In
addition the informalisation of the Zimbabwean economy has meant
that more
currency now circulates outside the formal banking system. Given
that most
participants in the informal sector are either unbanked or they
shun
transacting via formal channels, cash in this sector is rarely
deposited
with banks.
Severe foreign exchange shortages in the economy have
created a
thriving parallel foreign currency market which has contributed to
the
worsening of the currency crisis.
The economy is also
experiencing a high degree of currency
substitution as people now prefer
holding foreign currencies in order to
store value and hedge against
inflation. The prevailing high inflation rate
and policy uncertainties have
resulted in a large proportion of transactions
being conducted in foreign
currencies.
Moreover the shortage of basic commodities on the local
markets has
increased the demand for foreign exchange to purchase these in
neighboring
countries like South Africa, Mozambique and Botswana. All these
factors
contribute to the continued circulation of currency on informal
markets.
The banking sector has been unable to attract meaningful
deposits
largely as a result of negative real returns on savings. Real
interest rates
have been negative since 2003 and this has removed the
economic incentives
for individuals and corporates to hold wealth as savings
within the banking
system.
Confidence in the banking system has
also been severely affected by
sub economic withdrawal limits which require
frequent visits to banks. As a
result saving levels have dropped
dramatically due to financial
disintermediation.
Furthermore,
the current withdrawal limits make consumption smoothing
difficult given the
level of prices in the economy and uncertainties in the
macroeconomic
environment resulting in the bulk of income being consumed
rather than
saved.
Some of programmes which have been instituted in a bid
enhance the
supply side of basic commodities have resulted in the emission
of trillions
of dollars onto the market without a corresponding injection of
currency
into circulation.
Given the level of financial
disintermediation and informalisation of
the Zimbabwe economy, when the
beneficiaries pay their own suppliers, the
propensity to convert such funds
into cash is very high and consequently
such programmes end up contributing
to the cash crisis, as the original
funds were not underpinned by currency
emission.
Although printing money to solve the cash shortage
problem may help in
the short run, this will lead to accelerating inflation
in the medium to
long term. More appropriate solutions should involve
reversing the economic
incentives to financial disintermediation as these
both reduce the cash
shortage and help in tempering inflationary
pressures.
In particular, there is need to restore economic actors’
confidence in
the financial sector’s ability to effectively and efficiently
handle the
banking needs of the economy.
Given that the
parallel foreign currency market is contributing to the
continued
circulation of cash outside the formal system, addressing foreign
exchange
shortages through a viable exchange rate regime is a necessary step
in
solving the cash crisis.
It is prudent to allow free foreign
currency transactions in the
mainstream banking sector in order to limit the
volume of currency
circulating on the parallel market. Restoration of sanity
in the foreign
exchange market will eliminate arbitrage
opportunities.
Although raising nominal interest rates is usually
the preferred
policy solution in removing the disincentive to save,
applicability in the
Zimbabwean context is limited because of high levels of
inflation. Achieving
attractive positive real interest rates therefore
requires inflation
reduction in the first place.
In the medium
term the solution to cash shortages may lie in the areas
of pursuit where
countries facing similar double jeopardises of cash
shortages and inflation
have had to consider and among them is the dreaded
dolarisation of the
currency. Before that is practical examination of the
results of measures
applied in Latin American and Eastern Europe often under
the advice of
Rudiger Dornbusch need to be studied.
A holistic solution to the
cash shortage centers on inflation
reduction and stabilisation of the
macroeconomic environment. This will
increase the economic incentive to
save/deposit money in the formal
financial sector.
It is
important to note that, proper diagnosis of the causes of cash
shortages has
important policy implications. As the three propositions
state, excess
demands for cash are reflections of conditions throughout the
financial
markets.
Efforts to remedy imbalances in one market without
considering that
the roots of the imbalance are found in another financial
market will
founder on the integration of financial markets. — Own
Correspondent.
Zim Independent
Nhlanhla Nyathi
THE emergence of the economic
recession and the subsequent
inflationary conditions that followed as far
back as 2000 initially
presented readjustment problems for the larger
segment of the Zimbabwean
population that had become accustomed to a stable
economic environment.
Prior to the economic recession, the majority
of Zimbabweans excelled
throughout their early schooling and later in
tertiary education with the
ultimate objective of securing well-paying jobs
that guaranteed financial
emancipation.
Savings were
subsequently made and invested on a fairly regular basis
into structured
investments for posterity and to provide financial security
for other
generations. The advent of the economic recession turned this
financial
comfort zone upside down through the erosion of savings and
salaries due to
the effects of hyperinflation.
Understandably, as part of the
survival strategy under the new
dispensation people devised various
techniques, most of which were crafted
to take advantage of massive
distortions that had arisen in the economic
trading environment because of
policy inconsistencies on the part of
government.
The get rich
quick wheeler dealers who made massive margins on foreign
currency
transactions without producing a single consumable product became
the order
of the day and the envy of many outside the sacred circle.
No
particular skills were required to expedite the deals except for
one to be
connected and have the guts to trade in an illegal market.
The less
fortunate who had no access to this lucrative market but
could not bear the
option of living in abject poverty through earning an
inflation ravaged wage
decided to ply their trade in the informal sector.
Nothing much was
required to set up the informal businesses as little
capital was invested to
initiate operations and little was required in the
form of working capital.
The informal sector became an important investment
tool for the lower end of
the market allowing it to keep up with inflation
in line with other
classes.
On the other hand, those who remained in formal employment
were
negatively affected by sub-economic salaries and consequently engaged
in
unethical dealings within their work places to earn an extra dollar as a
way
of keeping up with everyone else.
Many others migrated
legally and illegally to various regional and
international countries to
earn the much sought after foreign currency as a
way of providing a
safety-net for relatives left behind in Zimbabwe.
By and large,
Zimbabweans across the class divide had readjusted
through these various
methods to the changed circumstances. These survival
techniques were
necessary but temporary in nature.
Temporary as they may have been,
Zimbabweans across the class divide
had to some extent altered their lives
permanently, in a way compromising
their possible re-integration to the
economy post economic recession.
Hence, the question that keeps
lingering in the minds of visionaries
is: After eight years of economic
recession is the economic tide about to
turn necessitating further
re-adjustment of strategy to enable adaptation in
line with further changed
circumstances and how prepared are Zimbabweans?
Arguably, determining with
precision when Zimbabwe will come out of this
economic recession is anyone’s
guess and most likely a topic for political
debate. However, in a moving
article written by Mutumwa Mawere entitled
Unpacking the ENG saga three
years on, he indicates that only an idiot does
not see the signs that
Zimbabwe is on the verge of change.
Perhaps this might explain the
decision by LonZim, an international
investment firm to plough in $30
million at this particular point in
Zimbabwe, positioning itself for post
economic recession.
Many proponents of this view also point to the
tide of change in South
African politics and the current unraveling
political crisis in Kenya as
mythical signs that Zimbabwe could be next.
Whether these assertions will
turn out to be true or false prophesies is
only a question of time.
In the event that economic recovery does
come Zimbabwe’s way: Are
Zimbabweans well positioned to benefit from the
anticipated change? To
adequately address this question, an analysis of the
investment strategies
used during economic recession and the relevance of
those investment
strategies post economic recession by the different
segments of the
Zimbabwean populace might give an insight.
Firstly, we have the get rich quick wheeler dealers who trade on the
parallel market and make their living from earning massive margins on
foreign currency transactions. These individuals have set themselves apart
from the rest by making huge profits over a relatively short period of time
and invested in properties, cars, and hard currencies.
Their
skill’s base is rather limited and they survive on connections
that
guarantee continuous business. Post economic recession, distortions
allowing
parallel market dealings to occur will disappear leaving no
prospects for
wheeling and dealing.
While the investments made by wheelers and
dealers make sense, post
economic recession this group has not set itself up
to be major players in
the economic trading environment.
No
investments have been made towards infrastructure development,
brand
building, and setting up corporate structures that can last for
centuries to
come. For instance, while someone can make money and invest in
a car,
someone else would rather put that money towards building a corporate
image
and a brand equivalent to Coca-Cola over time.
It’s a trade-off
between short-term profits and empire building in the
long term. Post
economic recession it is expected that the trading
environment will be
dominated by global brands and multinational companies
with international
lines of credit.
In addition, the wheelers and dealers will find it
difficult to secure
formal employment in multinational companies post
economic recession because
during economic recession they have not made any
efforts to further their
education and professional skills.
Secondly, we have the informal sector made up of entrepreneurs who set
up
undercapitalized operations during economic recession.
Many of
these informal entities will never grow beyond what they are
and thrive on
evading tax officials and operating outside government
regulations. Post
economic recession these undercapitalized operations will
not be able to
withstand the competitive trading environment dominated by
big businesses
and will most probably be swallowed up and shut down
voluntarily.
For those that will be lucky they might just
survive through offering
a highly targeted niche market strategy. In
addition, there will be no price
distortions to allow informal traders to
earn huge margins on just buying
and selling as is the trend now. This group
will also have no option but to
be re-engaged to the job market and be
re-trained to acquire the relevant
skills.
Thirdly, we have the
Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who left the country
during the economic
recession, most of whom work outside their professional
areas of study in
the foreign countries. Most people in this category send
money to their
relatives back home on a fairly frequent basis and hardly
have significant
investments that can rival multinational companies post
economic
recession.
Some in this category might want to come back to
Zimbabwe
post-economic recession and be re-engaged in their professional
capacities
but might find it difficult because in the Diaspora most of them
were not
gainfully engaged in their fields of original study. This presents
a future
predicament.
In essence, Zimbabweans are ill-prepared
for the period post-economic
recession. There is a serious generational
skills gap caused by the economic
recession that will compromise the ability
of most Zimbabweans that got into
wheeling and dealing without getting
formal job and professional training.
These skills will be necessary post-
economic recession as the trading
environment will cease to be dominated by
short-term deals promoted by
market distortions.
That is why it
is imperative that Zimbabweans think of investment
strategies now that will
rival multinational companies post-economic
recession. The concept of
wheeling and dealing will have to be traded off
with corporate building
through channeling financial resources towards
brands and infrastructure
development for the long term.
* Nhlanhla Nyathi is a director of a
private equity firm. He can be
contacted on 0912250092.
Zim Independent
By Jesman
Howera
Isn’t it all too easy to think of fraud as someone
else’s problem?
When people set up their own businesses, the threat of fraud
may not be a
major concern — its importance may only gradually dawn on them.
Most
managers in Zimbabwe may tend to be more worried about the Bank
Manager, the
Tax Inspector, Central Bank officials and the auditor than the
threat of
fraud.
The threat of occupational fraud has always
existed in Zimbabwean
organisations in all sectors, however, the
opportunities for it have
expanded with the hyper inflationary and
deteriorating economic environment
which has brought real and substantial
corporate crime threats and
difficulties that have seriously affected
organisational perfomance by
interrupting business operations as evidenced
by the reduction in foreign
direct investment, closure of companies,
volatile stock prices and erosion
of shareholder, employee (brain drain) and
market confidence.
As such occupational fraud in Zimbabwe has in
the past two years
escalated, taking a variety of forms ranging from minor
employee thefts of
basic commodities and unproductive behaviour to
misappropriation of assets,
revenue skimming and breaches of the country’s
exchange control regulations,
payroll fraud, accepting kickbacks or
profiting from conflicts of interest
and fraudulent financial
reporting.
A number of highly publicised cases in Zimbabwe have
also heightened
the awareness of the effects of fraudulent behaviour in the
work place and
have led many organizations and regulatory authorities (RBZ
and government
ministries for example) to be more proactive in taking steps
to prevent,
deter or detect its occurrence.
Misappropriation of
assets has nonetheless resulted in substantial
losses to a number of
Zimbabwean organisations where dishonest employees had
the incentive
(pressure or need), opportunity, predisposition (attitude and
justification)
and most importantly capability to commit fraud.
Research has shown
that up to 6% of organisations’ revenues may be
lost annually as a result of
fraud and abuse [ACFE, 2004] and in Zimbabwe
the economic impact of
occupational fraud has been significant, also most
bringing the economy to a
halt.
Fraud studies have also shown that about 80% of occupational
frauds
are committed by lower level employees and account for only about 20%
of the
losses in dollar value.
On the other hand senior
management commits about 20% of occupational
frauds which account for about
80% of the losses. It has also been proved
that most frauds directed at
organizations originate from and/or a link
‘within’ (ACFE, 2004; AICAPA,
2005).
Given the facts recited above, how can organisations in
Zimbabwe stem
losses due to occupational fraud at all levels and in the
process of doing
so, get better the bottom line?
First and
foremost, clear organisational objectives relating to fraud
prevention and
reduction must be identified and communicated throughout the
organization.
Whilst it is true that internal controls in every
organisation provide
reasonable assurance that organisational objectives are
achieved, without
specific objectives to reduce occupational fraud to
tolerable levels, what
will efforts to improve internal controls for fraud
produce? Suboptimal
results if not nothing.
The economic
environment currently obtaining in Zimbabwe does calls
for a strategic fraud
risk management approach which combines prevention,
deterrence, and
detection measures.
However, since fraud is not always very easy to
detect as it often
involves concealment through falsification of documents
or collusion among
management, employees, and / or third parties (and
regulators), how about
organisations rather placing a strong emphasis on
fraud prevention, which
may reduce opportunities for fraud to take place;
and fraud deterrence,
which could dissuade individuals to commit fraud
because of the likelihood
of detection and punishment?
Moreover, prevention and deterrence measures are much less costly than
the
time, expertise and expense required for fraud detection and
investigation.
Secondly organisations need to carry out a fraud
risk assessment
process to identify and evaluate the risks of occupational
fraud in order to
implement relevant processes, procedures, and controls
needed to mitigate
the risks and reduce the opportunities for
fraud.
Neither fraudulent financial reporting, misappropriation of
assets nor
a petty theft occurs without a perceived opportunity to commit
and conceal
the act (Cressey, 1973).
The fraud risk-assessment
process should therefore consider the
vulnerability of the organisation to
fraudulent activity and evaluate
whether or not any of those exposures could
result in a material
misstatement of the financial statements or material
loss to the
organization.
Once management has identified areas
posing a higher risk of
fraudulent activity in terms of the entity’s
operations, its financial
reporting process and circumvention of controls it
can then decide which
fraud risk to tolerate (accepting), transfer, treat or
terminate.
It is only the fraud risk that management decide to
treat that need
effective preventive and detective internal controls whether
automated or
manual, which should include a well-developed control
environment, an
effective and secure information system, and appropriate
control and
monitoring activities.
For example, fraudulent
financial reporting by lower levels of
management and employees may be
deterred or detected by appropriate
monitoring controls, such as having
higher-level managers review and
evaluate the financial results reported by
individual operating units or
subsidiaries.
For fraud risks
that an entity may choose to transfer, why not for
example sell certain
segments of the organisation’s operations, cease doing
business in certain
locations, or reorganize its business processes to
eliminate unacceptable
risks. It may be possible to reduce or terminate
certain fraud risks by
making changes to the entity’s activities and
processes.
For
example the risk of corruption may be reduced by strictly
monitoring the
entity’s procurement process.
The risk of financial statement fraud
may be reduced by implementing
shared services centres to provide accounting
services to multiple segments,
affiliates, or geographic locations of an
entity’s operations.
Thirdly it is from a forensic auditing
perspective fundamental that
organisations deal with occupational fraud by
creating and maintaining a
culture of honesty and high ethics based on a set
of core values in addition
to implementing measures to reduce wrongdoing or
criminal activity.
These values provide a strong message about the
key principles guiding
employee actions and clearly articulating that all
employees will be held
accountable upon failure to act within the
organization’s code of conduct.
Organisations should also be
conscious that almost any employee may be
capable of committing fraud given
the right set of circumstances.
Forensic auditing experience has
shown that fraudulent activities by
upper-level management typically
involves override of internal controls
within the financial and other
business processes because management has the
capability to override
controls, or to influence others to perpetrate or
conceal
fraud.
Accordingly, management should develop a heightened ‘fraud
awareness’,
an appropriate fraud risk-management program supported by senior
management,
and an appropriate oversight process from the Board of Directors
or Audit
Committee as the potential for management override increases the
need for
appropriate oversight measures.
* Jesman Howera is a
Senior Manager — Fraud & Forensic Services at
PricewaterhouseCoopers —
Zimbabwe
Zim Independent
Shakeman Mugari
AN International Monetary Fund (IMF) document
says Zimbabwe’s
inflation for January has galloped to about 150 000% as the
economy
continues to crumble.
This is the same rate reached by
Germany during the Weimar Republic in
the 1920s in the post-First World War
era.
The document which contains the figures has not yet been
officially
released but was distributed to government and RBZ officials who
attended an
IMF seminar as part of a lecture package.
The
seminar which was held mid-December was conducted by the IMF team
which
visited Zimbabwe in December to educate key government and RBZ
officials
about hyperinflation.
The document said by November 2007 Zimbabwe’s
inflation had reached 85
000% which is almost the same level that the
Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC) reached in November 1993 (91
253%).
The IMF said Zimbabwe’s inflation had reached 115 000% by
December
last year. Zimbabwe is the only country that has reached such
alarming
inflation levels since the mid 1990s. The government has refused to
release
inflation figures for the past eight months, ostensibly to hold down
the
prices of basic commodities. That plan is collapsing as businesses now
use
their own inflation figures to raise prices.
The result has
been a huge surge in prices forcing government to
implement price controls
which have however failed.
The last known inflation figure, which
was leaked to the media by
officials at the Central Statistics Office in
October, was 14 800%.
Before that government had blocked the
release of the figures for more
than four months.
The document
said even the previous inflation figures released by
government were not a
true reflection of the situation on the ground. The
correct inflation is
that which is measured using the black market rates.
"The parallel
market exchange rate — measured by the black market rate
and notional rate —
better gauges the declining purchasing power in
Zimbabwe."
The
document blamed the inflation rise on the government’s over
reliance on
money printing to fund its operations.
"Money creation has been the
main source of financing quasi-fiscal
activities, which form the bulk of
public sector spending," the document
said.
The document added:
"In an economy where money creation is the main
source of deficit financing,
the overall public sector deficit (central
government, public enterprises,
quasi-fiscal etc) becomes a principal
determinant of money growth and hence
inflation."
It said the foreign currency rate mismatch was also at
the root cause
of the spiralling inflation.
"Depreciation (of
local currency) reduces government revenue, leads to
increased implicit
subsidies in the presence of multiple currency practices.
"In a
hyperinflationary environment movements in the exchange rate
become a
primary determinant of inflation."
The document said the
introduction of a new currency does not help
reduce inflation unless it is
accompanied by broad based stabilisation
reforms.
"Price
controls increase inflation instability." The document warns
that inflation
is likely to continue galloping unless the government
institutes
comprehensive policy measures.
The document said only 13 countries
have experienced hyperinflation
since 1950.
Average duration of
hyperinflation is 17 months, the longest is 59
month which was experienced
by Nicaragua, the document said.
Analysts said the recent decision
by the central bank to go on a money
printing spree to ease the cash crisis
would worsen the inflation problem.
The central bank will today
launch higher denominations of bearers’
cheques — $1 million, $5 million and
$10 million — to help solve the cash
crisis.
Analysts however
said while the move would solve the cash problem for
now it was going to
have serious consequences in the long-term.
Zim Independent
Orirando Manwere
AS the cash crunch which Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono blames on
cash barons persists, analysts say there is no will or
sincerity by the
political leadership, law enforcement agencies and the
monetary authorities
to curb corruption as top officials in these
institutions are deeply
involved.
They said recent revelations
in court that the RBZ allegedly released
over $7 trillion to Flatwater
Investments to source foreign currency for the
purchase of tractors, of
which $2,1 trillion was channelled to the black
market, was only a tip of
the iceberg on how the bank could have been
actively involved in illegal
foreign currency dealings and fuelling
inflation which it should be
addressing.
The analysts said the arrest of a Harare woman, Dorothy
Mutekede,
allegedly found in possession of $10 billion in the new $500 000
bearer
cheques soon after their launch in December last year and the
subsequent
mishandling of the case by the police raise a lot of
questions.
Senior detectives who asked not to be named said it was
worrying that
the Criminal Investigations Department’s Serious Fraud Squad
which is
responsible for probing high profile white collar crime failed to
record the
serial numbers of the bearer cheques as a laid down basic
procedures on
securing evidence.
They said it was equally
disturbing that the RBZ, which should
naturally have been interested in
tracing the source of the cash, merely
received the cash from the police and
released it back into circulation
without any questions asked.
"You can’t have a pot calling a kettle black. There is corruption at
the RBZ
and the police. This speaks volumes about the lack of
professionalism and
the laxity in the security systems of the RBZ," police
officers said.
"Clearly there are top officials involved and people like
Mutekede are just
being used as sacrificial lambs because there is no way
she could have
access to $10 billion."
Mutekede, who was later fined, named Harare
businessman Jonathan
Kadzura as the source of the money, an allegation he
denied.
A few days later, Guruve North legislator and chairman of
the
parliamentary portfolio committee on Budget and Finance David Butau,
fled
the country after police indicated they wanted to question him on
allegations of externalising foreign currency.
In a related
case, a Harare man, Joseph Manjoro last week pleaded
guilty to illegal
foreign currency dealings involving $2,1 trillion which he
admitted
channelling on the black market through Butau and other runners to
raise
foreign currency for Flatwater Investments which had been contracted
by the
RBZ to import tractors for the farm mechanisation programme.
The
public prosecutor, Tawanda Zvekare, blamed the RBZ for fuelling
illegal
foreign currency dealings after they "blindly splashed" cash on the
Flatwater without verifying its claims of having US$9 million in an offshore
account for the purchase of the tractors.
Zvekare has asked the
court to order investigations into RBZ dealings.
This comes against
the backdrop of Gono’s remarks on television that
he was prepared to give
information on the cash barons before the
parliamentary portfolio committee
on Budget and Finance chaired by Butau
who, before he fled, said the
committee was not in a hurry to summon him
over the issue.
The
analysts said it was worry-ing that despite Gono’s remarks and
calls by
concerned stakeholders and general members of the public, the
police and the
Anti-Corruption Commission to act, there is apparently no
meaningful probe
to bring culprits to book.
Bulawa-yo-based economic commentators
Eddie Cross and Eric Bloch and
University of Zimbabwe social commentator
John Makumbe, said in separate
interviews that the police and the RBZ were
obliged to act expeditiously to
ensure that culprits were brought to
book.
Cross said recent events had clearly shown that there was a
deliberate
effort to "protect the big fish involved".
"The
problem is that there is rampant corruption within all the
institutions that
are expected to act. The regime cannot prosecute itself.
There is no
political will to curb corruption in this country," said Cross.
"Where did that $10 billion originate from and how many other cash
barons
had access to the new bearer cheques before they were launched? There
is
corruption at the highest levels and that is why police did not record
serial numbers of the bearer cheques which could have determined where they
came from."
His sentiments were echoed by Bloch who called on
the police to get to
the bottom of the case.
Bloch said if Gono
had evidence on cash barons, he should pass it to
the police who should
thoroughly investigate the case to ensure prosecution
of the
suspects.
He however dismissed allegations that the RBZ was buying
foreign
currency on the black market, adding that it used transparent ways
to source
foreign currency.
"The RBZ must provide evidence to
facilitate investigations to clear
its name," he said. "That $10 billion
could have come from the commercial
banks. In terms of investigation
procedure, the police must know what is
required as evidence and the RBZ
would not know," he said.
"If the police deliberately failed to
secure the evidence, then a
probe must be done and those responsible charged
accordingly. Gono should
speak to the police who should satisfy themselves
with the evidence before
the Attorney-General’s Office plays its prosecution
role," Bloch said.
"Naming the barons is not enough. What is needed
is the evidence. That’s
the story. The police and the Anti-Corruption
Commission should probe the
cases," said Bloch.
Makumbe said
the RBZ and the Serious Frauds Squad owed the public an
explanation on the
Flatwater and $10 billion cases.
"We smell a rat. How could the RBZ
release over $7 trillion to what we
believe to be a shelf company to procure
tractors," he said.
"How did the police and the RBZ fail to record
serial numbers of the
$10 billion bearer cheques which were intercepted just
two days after the
launch? Who authorised their disposal?" said Makumbe,
adding that even the
Finance minister should explain what was happening in
his ministry.
He said the failure by the police and the
Anti-Corruption Commission
to act on Gono’s remarks at the Zanu PF congress
in December showed that
there was no political will to fight
corruption.
He said one would have expected President Robert Mugabe
to immediately
set up a commission of enquiry "but instead he went to the
Far East on his
annual vacation without doing anything about it, leaving the
country in a
dire cash crisis".
Makumbe said it was interesting
to see how the police and the
Anti-Corruption Commission would respond to
calls by Zvekare for
investigations into the operations of the RBZ as well
as the police’s
negligence in the $10 billion case.
Contacted
for comment on how the $10 billion case was handled and
whether the
investigating officer was being probed, police spokesman Chief
Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka said he could comment on a matter before the
courts.
"That matter was finalised at court. Mutekede was
convicted and
accordingly fined. As for what is coming from court, I cannot
comment on
that because it is sub judice," said Mandipaka.
The
Minister of State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and
Anti-Corruption, Samuel
Undenge, said the Anti-Corruption Inter-Agency
comprising the police, RBZ
and officers from the Ant-Corruption Commission
were pursuing the
matter.
"The agency is looking into the issues related to the cash
barons, RBZ
operations and the manner in which the $10 billion case was
handled. They
are looking into the issue to see if there was negligence or
omission by the
officers involved in the case," said Undenge.
Zim Independent
Alex T Magaisa
A RECENT media article
by a colleague, Tererai Mafukidze, raised
pertinent issues on the protection
of judicial independence in the wake of
the appointment of Judge Bharat
Patel as Acting Attorney General (AAG) of
Zimbabwe. Mafukidze argued
persuasively about the technical shortcomings
casting doubt on the legality
and constitutionality of that appointment.
This article adds some
perspectives on those issues and argues that
the handling of this matter
(including the suspension of the incumbent AG)
raises questions of public
interest in the administration of justice. Why,
it has to be asked, would a
judge of the High Court leave the apparent
security of judicial office to
take up what is effectively an insecure job
vulnerable to the vagaries of
politics?
First, the redeployment of the judge to an executive post
undermines
the judiciary as an equal and independent arm of the state.
Judicial
independence requires that judges are properly rewarded so that
they are not
imperilled by executive tyranny. Security of tenure, guaranteed
by the
Constitution, is a foundation stone of judicial independence.
Although the
Constitution contemplates that the AG has similar
qualifications as a judge,
the protection and privileges attendant upon
judicial office give it
superiority.
When, therefore, a judge
leaves judicial office to take up a seemingly
inferior executive office that
is open to political control, it does raise
serious questions about the
state of the judiciary. It is no secret that the
judiciary is penurious, as
last year, the Judge President Makarau publicly
pleaded on behalf of the
judiciary for pecuniary assistance. Judge Patel’s
acceptance to cross the
floor gives further credence to concerns that
judicial office is so less
rewarding that judges are prepared to give up
their Constitutional
privileges to join the executive arm of the state.
More
significantly, the fear is that the redeployment of sitting
judges to
executive positions might become a habit and could be perceived by
the
public as a form of reward to pliable judges. In such circumstances,
legitimate fears arise that in order to gain such a "promotion" from
judicial office to the executive, a judge would have to tow the line.
Whether or not such a perception reflects reality, it does great harm to the
reputation of the judiciary as a fair and impartial forum for dispute
resolution. It also undermines public confidence in the administration of
justice. The responsibility is both with the executive to desist from making
such redeployments and also with the judges to exercise caution prior to
accepting such offers.
Second, the redeployment of a sitting
judge to the AG’s office results
in a multi-headed creature that is prone to
perceptions of unfairness in the
justice delivery system. It is, at least
morally, questionable for a single
individual who, one day sits as the
prosecutorial chief and the next day,
wears a wig and gown to sit in
judgement of others. This flip-flopping
between judicial and prosecutorial
offices does harm the institutions of
justice. Principles of natural justice
consist of two essential elements:
right to a fair hearing and the rule
against bias.
Unless clearly stipulated under statute, an
individual cannot hold
office which permits him to investigate, prosecute
and make decisions
against others. Even if it is unlikely that Judge Patel
will use all three
powers simultaneously, the fact that he holds two offices
that enable him,
potentially, to exercise those powers, creates an
unfortunate perception of
structural unfairness. In any event, natural
justice requires that justice
must not only be done, but must be seen to be
done. This requires clear
separation of individuals and institutions in the
justice delivery system.
Third, the appointment of a judge to the
post of AG places him in a
risky position that is likely to soil his public
reputation. It is well
known that the AG serves both political and legal
functions. By its nature,
the office of the AG is a risky and controversial
institution, which can
adversely affect the reputation of the office-holder,
not least if that
person holds judicial office. The office of AG in Zimbabwe
has generally
followed a highly political path.
It is easy for
the incumbent to be placed in a situation of conflict
between the demands of
his political appointers and the demands of his role
as the chief law
officer, which issue is also at the centre of the suspended
AG’s troubles.
It may be argued that Judge Patel has faced these challenges
before when he
has previously held the office of the AG, but that was before
his
appointment to judicial office. Taking up the same post when he is
holding
judicial office and has sworn to the judicial oath makes his current
position totally different.
The fact that the AG is appointed
by the President and is a member of
the cabinet and therefore, forms part of
the executive is itself, a
controversial arrangement, which compromises the
AG’s independence. To the
extent that the AG’s independence is compromised
in this way, it is
inappropriate to have a person holding judicial office
being appointed, even
in an acting capacity, to the AG’s office. This is
particularly significant,
if that person has not resigned his judicial
office and there is a
possibility of future reversion to his role of
judge.
Fourth, there is a further technical aspect that casts doubt
on the
legality of the appointment. The Constitution provides for the
appointment
of the AG and in addition, one or more Deputy AG. Under Section
76(13) of
the Constitution, in the case of a vacancy or where the AG is
unable to
perform his duties, the President is entitled to designate a
Deputy AG to
act as the AG. It seems clear that an acting AG can only be
appointed from
one or more of the Deputy AGs.
The law does not
provide for the designation of any other person,
besides the Deputy AG, to
be an acting AG. Judge Patel is not a Deputy AG.
The basis of the
designation of a High Court judge as AG is not immediately
apparent from the
provisions of the Constitution. The executive probably has
a good reason but
this has neither been shown nor explained to the public,
leaving room for
unhelpful speculation.
Next, it seems reasonable, that any person
taking up the AG’s position
should have regard to the immediate
circumstances appertaining to that
office. The suspension, in controversial
circumstances, of the incumbent, is
a factor that one ought to consider.
Whilst a Tribunal has been set up to
investigate the matter, there have long
been suspicions of political
meddling leading to the perception that the
AG’s office is an institution
that is already soiled by that controversy.
Perceptions have also been
created that the executive wants to have an AG
who will toe the line. With
due respect, it follows that the public is
likely to think that the person
that is appointed is not his own man. This
harms the individual’s otherwise
impeccable reputation and the institution
that he represents.
Additionally, an external factor to consider,
though not of Judge
Patel’s making, is the nature of the Tribunal set up to
deal with the
suspended AG’s case. It is interesting to note that two of the
Tribunal’s
members are serving judges of the High Court, that is, they are
fellow
colleagues of Judge Patel. It is quite sobering to think that if
Judge Patel
had not been appointed AAG, he might well have been one of the
members of
the Tribunal, sitting to decide the fate of the suspended
AG.
That such a possibility can be entertained in such a serious
matter
involving an important constitutional office, must, surely, give rise
to
concern over the structural fairness, credibility and impartiality of the
Tribunal. Perhaps having appointed a member of the High Court to replace the
suspended AG, authorities should have considered picking retired or foreign
judges, not fellow judges of the person who has replaced the subject of its
investigation. Even Section 87 of the Constitution, which provides for a
Tribunal to decide the fate of a judge, contemplates that its members would
be persons who have held judicial office in Zimbabwe. Alternatively they may
be holding or have held judicial office in a foreign country with similar
legal traditions. The difference is that a serving judge can be appointed
but only if he is from a foreign jurisdiction. It would be absurd to have a
serving judge in Zimbabwe sitting to decide the fate of a fellow
judge.
The President has appointed a Tribunal, presumably to ensure
a fair
hearing for the suspended AG — but he may have exposed it to the
probability
of a review on grounds of lack of impartiality because of this
and related
circumstances.
Finally, the appointment of serving
judges (Judge Bhunu and Judge
Kudya) to the Tribunal presents a potential
problem should the suspended AG
decide to challenge their
decision/recommendations on review. The High Court
is entitled to handle
such a judicial review. The Tribunal is not sitting as
a High Court and
therefore its decision is not binding on a judge of the
High Court. However,
there is an anomalous situation where a single judge of
the High Court may
be required on the basis of the challenge, to sit and
review a
decision/recommendation of two serving judges at the Tribunal.
This
situation creates the impression that the reviewing judge could
be in a
difficult position to impartially consider and review the
decision/recommendation of two colleagues with whom he serves at the same
level of the judicial hierarchy. Normally the decision of two judges would
bind the single judge. With due respect to the judges, the arrangement
provides room for the subject of the decision to challenge its procedural
and structural unfairness. This is a situation that could quite easily be
avoided.
The redeployment of Judge Patel does not help the
administration of
justice in Zimbabwe. What is worse is that it could have
been avoided.
Otherwise, it’s a sad indictment on the legal profession that
the executive
had no option among the ranks of the profession but to switch
a serving
judge to take up an important executive post. This has produced an
absurd
circumstance, in which a fellow lawyer appearing in court against
Judge
Patel, acting for the government, might be forgiven for wondering
whether to
address him as a "Learned Friend" or as "Your Lordship"! It is up
to the
profession’s representatives to challenge what appears to be an
unconstitutional and morally reprehensible appointment.
* Dr
Magaisa is based at Kent University Law School and can be
contacted at a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk or wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Zim Independent
FROM the founding majority rule elections of 1980 to March 2005, all
elections were conducted in more than one day. In the March 2002
presidential elections, the High Court actually extended the voting to a
third day after the opposition MDC appealed to the judiciary on grounds that
there had been too few polling stations in urban areas.
In
short, it had become a tradition for Zimbabwean voters to expect to
cast
their vote on either a Saturday or, if they miss this day, the
following
day.
But there has been considerable agitation against this based
on the
experiences in other countries where voting is done in only one day.
It was
partly in response to these demands and concerns that the government
introduced a raft of electoral reforms in 2004 including one-day
voting.
This was implemented for the first time in the March 2005
parliamentary election. No systematic study has been done to get the
people’s
view on this innovation and departure from tradition. What do the
people
say?
The verdict of public opinion on the innovation is
an emphatic ‘No’.
This is according to the survey conducted by the Mass
Public Opinion
Institute in April/May 2007. Exactly two thirds of the
electorate rejected
the reform while only 28% supported it.
And
the rejection was across the board, ie the rejection cut across
the
traditional lines of polarisation. In the rural areas, 64% did not
support
the reform while 29% supported it.
The rejection rate was even
higher in the urban areas where seven in
ten (71%) rejected it compared to
25% who endorsed the new procedure.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of the
youth do not support the change and the
rejection is more emphatic among the
middle aged with nearly three quarters
(73%) rejecting the move. The elders
(59%) are less opposed to the change
but even among them, less than a third
(31%) was supportive.
Noteworthy is that those without an education
are the most supportive
with more than a third (37%) of them saying they
endorse the move but even
in this group, half (51%) do not support it. —
Mpoi Survey
Among those with primary education 64% give a
thumbs down and this
rises to 68% among those with higher education
(secondary education and
above).
Both the Eves (68%) and Adams
(64%) also do not support the move. A
provincial breakdown shows Harare
(75%) is most against, closely followed by
the Midlands (74%) and
Mashonaland West (69%).
The least resistance comes from Mashonaland
Central where just 57%
reject the initiative, closely followed by Masvingo
(59%). All other
provinces lie somewhere in between Mashonaland West and
Masvingo.
More tellingly, there is no major difference on partisan
lines. 65%
Zanu PF supporters reject the innovation, so do 69% of the Morgan
Tsvangirai
faction of the MDC. Only three in 10 (30%) of ruling party and
28% of
MDC-Tsvangirai voters said they support the one-day voting
procedure.
In short, it appears the one-day voting innovation has
no takers.
Those who administer elections (specifically the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission) may have to take a second look at this especially
given that the
2008 elections will be multiple elections i.e. presidential,
parliamentary –
House of Assembly and Senate, and local government
elections. Otherwise, we
foresee many potential voters being disenfranchised
because of failure to
vote when they want to. It is not too late for the ZEC
to review this, if
only for the March 2008 elections. Commonsense and fair
play dictate such an
urgent review.
Zim Independent
By Garikai Chimuka
If recent media reports
carried by the Zimbabwe Independent of January
11 concerning the imminent
launch of a Zanu PF breakaway party to contest
the March elections under
Simba Makoni are true, then Makoni is a super
patriot who deserves to be
saluted nothwithstanding the urgent and patriotic
fact that only a
broad-based coalition of all democratic forces can unseat
Mugabe and his
rigging machinery in a free and fair election come March.
That
Makoni is alleged to be ready to stake his credibility and indeed
his life
against Mugabe and his notoriously ruthless machinery deserves
utmost
respect. For an analysis of the antithesis that the Zanu PF
extraordinary
congress held in December was, any Zanu PF opportunist would
never dare to
take such a risky yet welcome move in Zimbabwe today.
After Mugabe
clearly rigged himself back to power by blocking the
contestation of the
party’s presidency at the so called extraordinary Zanu
PF congress which was
a yawning non-event, all well meaning political
analysts never expected that
some Zanu PF members who have the country at
heart can come forward and
fight to reclaim the Zimbabwean dream from the
disastrous policies of the
now politically and biologically spent force that
Robert Mugabe has
become.
Indeed political analysts had expected that after the
so-called
extraordinary congress circus, all ruling party factions including
well-meaning reformists were going to take a back seat, close ranks and
campaign for Mugabe whilst sharpening their spears for an unprecedented
assault on each other when Mugabe finally leaves office.
It is
crystal clear that Mugabe will never leave office and hand over
power to
anyone when he is still alive since he has delusions that the title
deeds to
our beautiful country are in his pocket. It is in this context that
if the
media reports of Makoni working to save Zimbabwe at this defining
moment in
history are true, then he deserves to be inducted into the
political hall of
fame regardless of whether his project will succeed or
fail.
Throughout history, in defining moments of great nations, great people
are
not those who succeed in changing the situation but include those who
stand
up to be counted despite the enormity of a task facing them. So Makoni
has
taken a risky decision and I believe that history will always reward
those
who take a principled stand based on conviction. For it is now a clear
fact
that Mugabe’s time is up and his continued presence at State House
against
the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe whom he has reduced to a
laughing stock
before the whole world just to satisfy his unquenchable
appetite for
power.
Indeed Mugabe is the problem and the earlier the people of
Zimbabwe
take him head on and clearly send a powerful message that he does
not own
Zimbabwe but the people do, the better. Unlike political sycophants
such as
Manyika, Kasukuwere, Muchinguri, Sibanda and the national joke
Chinos, who
are prepared to throw conscience away for the sake of political
patronage,
Makoni has put himself on the line. It would have been
politically safe for
any opportunist to wait in the wings and then pounce
once Mugabe meets his
God.
If Makoni and his group are to truly
enter the political fray against
the tyranny of Mugabe, that would mark the
apogee of statesmanship by Makoni
and his group. However, media reports that
Makoni and his group have spurned
the agenda of a broad-based coalition of
all democratic forces including the
opposition MDC are true, that makes a
sad reading given the fact that the
current configuration of Zimbabwean
political landscape requires unity of
all democratic forces to donate a
crushing defeat of Mugabe and his rigging
machinery in March.
Thus the Makoni group must go a step further and reach out and embrace
all
other opposition forces for a rainbow coalition that must be driven by
the
desire to save Zimbabwe from collapsing by defeating Mugabe and his
shameless cohorts come March. Makoni must quickly get his act together and
with others in the democratic movement re-enact the Polokwane phenomenon in
Zimbabwean politics. History will for ever be grateful to respected guys
like Makoni for taking such a risky yet necessary move for evil triumphs
when good men fold their arms and do nothing.
* Garikai Chimuka
is an analyst based at Wageningen University, The
Netherlands
Zim Independent
By Denford
Magora
HAS it not occurred to people that Kenya today is the
offspring of
Zimbabwe? President Mwai Kibaki has behaved shamelessly, so
much so that
even his own man in charge of Kenya’s electoral commission says
he is not
sure who won! I think we all know that Kibaki stole the elections.
This is
plain fact.
Why did he do it?
In comes the
Zimbabwe angle. Because our own rulers have "stolen" the
elections and lived
to tell the tale, because Zimbabwe’s example has shown
them that you can do
what you want and there will be no comeback from the
so-called policemen of
the world.
The AU has displayed its impotence, hence John Kufuor
left Kenya with
his tail between his legs, nothing achieved.
The UK/USA alliance, much as it speaks of wanting to change the world’s
governance for the better, has shown that it will only take meaningful
action if its oil supplies are threatened or if the offending party lobs a
Molotov cocktail at the statue of liberty!
Kibaki knows he
lost. He knows he stole the election.
He was emboldened to do so by
what he has seen happening in Zimbabwe.
What it means is that the world has
no effective strategy for dealing with
people like Mugabe and
Kibaki.
Certainly, this explains to a large degree the complacency
of our
people.
They protest and get killed but the stubbornness
of people like Mugabe
and Kibaki means their deaths and sacrifices will be
meaningless and
ineffectual. Nobody, not even the most saintly martyr, wants
to die for
nothing.
Kenya has Zimbabwe to thank for its
predicament. And as an aside, do
you remember how I was pilloried in your
paper around the time Kibaki was
elected for telling the Kenyans that they
had condemned themselves to the
rule of greed, corruption and
autocracy.
Kenyans accused me of "belittling our hopes". I dare say
that I take
no satisfaction in being proved right, because the death toll is
going to
rise in the country, primarily because Kibaki is going
nowhere.
Behind him in the shadows in also Daniel arap Moi, who
endorsed and
supported him for president in the recent elections. Obviously
the master is
still instructing Kibaki and the "president-thief" is going
nowhere.
I really hope that you will be able to do a piece on this
angle and
show the world that, by failing Zimbabwe, they have failed all
oppressed
people everywhere.
* Denford Magora is a Harare-based
analyst and creative director.
Zim Independent
A COLLEAGUE visiting a
distinguished gentleman’s club this week was
intrigued by a notice occupying
pride of place on the notice board. "As all
members of this club know," the
notice said, "cheques returned from the bank
(refer to drawer) is totally
unacceptable. This is an act of fraud and is
not tolerated here. It also
results in the termination of your membership.
"The above member
has been withdrawn and his proposers will be
approached to recover the money
of the club.
"Please be careful when signing as proposer or
seconder to
candidates," the notice warned.
So who is
responsible for this shocking misdeed?
A clue: He used a Standard
Chartered cheque on December 3 drawn on the
Anglican diocese of Harare to
pay a tab of $80 million at the club. The
cheque bounced.
Yes,
as you have probably guessed by now the bounder was Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga
who is evidently making good use of diocesan funds and
living up to his
name!
Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa has said with regard to
election
observers that government will not admit "anyone with preconceived
ideas on
the electoral process and its outcome".
In other words
if you believe that democracy is best served by the
expression of a variety
of viewpoints so voters can make an informed choice
at the polls, you could
be excluded from observing the election. The
Zimbabwe government refuses to
allow the public broadcaster to reflect a
diversity of views and prevents
the registration of independent radio
stations.
In any case
what does Chinamasa think he was doing picking and
choosing election
observers? Should this not be the function of the Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission?
When ZEC chair Justice George Chiweshe was claiming the
commission was
independent a few months ago we warned that the issue of
observers would
provide a litmus test of that claim. Now we have the answer.
Zanu PF will be
deciding on who comes to observe, not the ZEC. And we can be
sure those
observers, like Sadc governments, will see nothing, hear nothing,
and say
nothing. Sadc is complicit in Zimbabwe’s misrule and we have no
doubt their
election observers will once again rise to the occasion by
endorsing
Chinamasa’s view that Zimbabwe’s electoral system is the best in
the region.
We are sure Joseph Mwale would agree.
Then we had
the Herald suggesting that differences between American
and European
election observers in Kenya sparked the violence that followed
the outcome.
The conflicting statements "have in part been blamed for the
bloodshed that
has since claimed hundreds of lives", the Herald reporter
claimed.
In fact most participants and observers have blamed
the Electoral
Commission of Kenya which showed bias in favour of the
incumbent and even
tampered with the results, it is claimed. Nobody, as far
as we know, has
blamed international observers for the violence. That is
pure Herald
fiction.
But it does provide a warning that where
the electoral commission
fails to command the confidence of all players
there is the danger of a
disputed outcome.
The Herald should be
warning its masters of that.
On Sunday Zinwa said it would cut
water supplies to Harare residents
this week. This followed power cuts at
its Morton Jaffray waterworks.
Intermittent power cuts had led to a failure
in the pumping system, we were
told.
In fact, like all
parastatal claims, this one is well wide of the
mark. The problem at Morton
Jaffray, Muckraker is reliably informed, has
little to do with Zesa and much
to do with a failure of maintenance. The
pumping system is having
difficulties because it hasn’t been looked after.
Much of the machinery at
the waterworks has not been serviced since the
mid-1990s. Only one pump is
working, we are told. Zinwa managers are so
desperate to prevent news of the
shambolic state of affairs at Morton
Jaffray from getting out that they have
forbidden any cameras or cellphones
being brought into the treatment
plant.
We liked the letter to the editor of The Voice
congratulating the
paper on carrying news of the Zanu PF December congress.
The writer was not
able to watch the proceedings on television, he said,
because of Zesa power
cuts!
That’s one way of forcing reluctant
readers to buy the ruling party’s
rag.
Mabasa Sasa, writing in
the Herald, provides a glimpse of a
forthcoming book by somebody using the
pseudonym Kufara Gwenzi who has
undertaken a survey of secret societies in
the West and the power they
wield. Instead of applying a critical mind,
which all journalists should do,
Sasa buys into this hocus pocus. All
ancient civilisations were guided by
secret societies, he quotes Gwenzi as
saying. In Britain the Freemasons
emerged as serious powerbrokers with close
ties to the Royal Family.
Presently Queen Elizabeth serves as "the Grand
Patroness of the Freemasons".
This will no doubt come as news to
the Queen!
The book has been "meticulously researched", we are
told. There is no
evidence of that. Most of these claims have been rattling
around for years
and are repeated by conspiracy theorists who don’t know any
better.
We can see why the author is shy about disclosing his real
identity.
Many of these claims were demolished years ago. The best example
is the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion which the Tsarist government in
Russia
peddled as an authentic document. It later proved to be completely
false.
Zimbabwe needs its own structures of power, Gwenzi
concludes. We
thought they already had one!
Writing on the
inter-party talks, Sasa claimed yesterday that "the
Herald exclusively
revealed last week that the political rivals had already
agreed on a new
constitution even before the talks started . . ."
Really? We
thought it appeared in the Independent in October. And who
will believe the
latest Zanu PF invention that it doesn't want a new
constitution because
there has been insufficient consultation?
Another Herald columnist,
Godwills Masimirembwa, showed us last week
just how dishonest that paper’s
writers can be. He picked on Fidelis Mhashu’s
maladroit comments on the
BBC’s Hardtalk programme several years ago that
the MDC would return land to
white farmers to show it was unwise to entrust
the party with the leadership
of the country.
Nowhere in his article did Masimirembwa mention
that the remarks were
made in 2006. Instead we are left with the impression
the remarks were made
recently in order to make a case that the MDC
"despises its birthright".
For the record, the MDC’s position is
that first an audit needs to be
taken of who got what in the land grab of
2000-7, and then land needs to be
allocated on the basis of best use to get
the country working again. The
vast majority of farmers benefiting from this
approach will be black
whatever Zanu PF may pretend. Above all, they will be
well-trained and
productive.
Why would Masimirembwa regard this
as selling one’s birthright? Does
he feel threatened by such a policy? Does
he fear losing his chicken farm?
What surprises us about
Masimirembwa and the party he so slavishly
serves is that you would have
thought that given his position as chair of
the Incomes and Prices
Commission he would be seeking a national consensus
on price
controls.
Instead he is busy urging everyone to vote for the
bankrupt party of
failure. Is that a sensible approach when you want to be
taken seriously and
need all the help you can get?
On another
level, why has Mhashu not replied to point out that the MDC’s
land policy is
being cynically misrepresented by a half-baked opportunist
with political
ambitions? He has a duty to speak out on these issues. But
the party as a
whole appears to have gone into hibernation.
The Chronicle carried
an interesting picture on January 5. It showed
the Provincial Administrator
for Matabeleland North, Ms Latiso Dlamini,
presenting the keys of a bakkie
to Chief Asher Mabhena of Umguza.
The chief looked distinctly
elderly and Muckraker’s colleagues
expressed doubt that he could drive the
vehicle he was receiving. Whatever
the case, enterprising Bulawayo
journalists should keep an eye on this
particular pick-up because it will
almost certainly soon be running around
Umguza as a ruling-party electoral
asset.
And don’t we recall the president speaking not so long ago
about the
need to curb electoral inducements?
lower production
has been on a steep decline over the past nine years
due to dwindling
production levels," the Business Herald told us this week.
In other
words production is dwindling because it is going down!
This
nonsense is designed to mask the reality of a failed agrarian
reform
programme.
Horticulture used to be a major forex earner. Now it is
struggling to
survive. Zanu PF chefs have everywhere driven out productive
farmers. And
the results are a fall in production and non-existent forex
earnings. As a
result the country cannot afford to import power. Blackouts
are a direct
consequence.
Another dimension to this misrule was
the decision by a Zesa
subsidiary to export power to Namibia in the middle
of blackouts at home.
Can you imagine such insanity? But President Mugabe’s
supporters think he
needs another term to "consolidate the gains of the
third chimurenga".
Purleez!
Zim Independent
By Eric
Bloch
GOVERNMENT is so imbued with its convictions of infallibility,
exceeded only
by the magnitude of its paranoia, that it is oblivious to the
devastating
destruction that it is wreaking upon the Zimbabwean economy, and
to the
intense suffering it is subjecting Zimbabweans to, at a massively
accelerating pace.
Despite pronouncedly irrefutable evidence that
government’s economic
policies are cataclysmically disastrous, it continues
pursuit endlessly of
those policies. And, being totally convinced that there
is naught wrong with
those policies, it readily convinces itself that the
sole reason for the
pursuit of policies not achieving declared objectives
must inevitably be the
actions of others to undermine and derail government
and that which it
allegedly is determined to achieve.
There are
innumerable examples that can be cited to corroborate that
government is
phobia-driven to an extreme and that, in consequence, it
myopically fails to
recognise realities. That sightlessness occasions the
most appallingly
negative consequences for Zimbabwe and its sadly and
unnecessarily afflicted
people. One of the most pronounced, if not the
greatest, example is that of
Zimbabwe’s devastating price controls. Whilst
government is not prepared to
acknowledge it to be so (and would undoubtedly
vigorously deny it), those
controls have achieved diametrically the opposite
which government claimed
was intended.
Diverse other ill-conceived, minimally considered, and
horrifically
implemented policies of government were the incontrovertible
triggers of the
most substantial hyperinflation ever experienced in
Zimbabwe. So great has
hyperinflation been in 2007 that Zimbabwe has
acquired the unenviable record
of having higher inflation than is prevailing
anywhere else in the world. As
government believes that everything it does
is right, without exception, it
could not be even remotely responsible for
that horrendous state of
endlessly rising prices. And, if it was not
responsible for the soaring
costs of living, others had to be.
Having
long been convinced that the Western world in general, and the United
Kingdom (aided and abetted by its European allies) and the United States,
have evil, colonialistic, domination designs upon Zimbabwe, and a
determination to oust the Zimbabwean government, it readily mesmerised
itself to believe that hyperinflation was a diabolically devised stratagem,
of its perceived enemies, to attain their aims.
But government also
realised, whether consciously or subconsciously, that
its imaginary enemies
could not bring their inflation-driven strategy to
fruition with-out
collaboration of others, and therefore very rapidly and
readily persuaded
itself that the majority of the Zimbabwean business
community were engaged
in a diabolical conspiracy with those enemies.
Government vociferously
alleged that that community were conniving with
Zimbabwe’s so-called foes to
destroy the economy, in order that a
poverty-stricken populace would then
enforce regime change. Moreover,
government (perhaps adhering to the precept
that "It takes one to know
one!") loudly contended that the business
community was highly motivated to
implement the economic destructionplan of
massive, continuing, price
escalations, because so doing would be compatible
with its endemic tactics
of exploitation and profiteering.
Despite
blatant, undeniable, realities which prove there to be not even a
microscopic iota of substance to government’s beliefs as to the sources of
Zimbabwean hyperinflation, it dogmatically and obdurately adheres to those
beliefs. If the Western world did wish to recolonise Zimbabwe, it would not
wish the economy to be ruined, access to primary resources destroyed, the
infrastructure devastated, the population emaciated, and that there actually
be nothing to recolonise. And for the business community to strive to bring
about economic collapse would be to commit suicide, for the destruction of
the economy would be the destruction of them.
However, governmental
self-delusion and hallucination was so great, that it
disregarded all the
facts and therefore, in a fruitless attempt to frustrate
the conspiracy,
halt the inflation, and endear itself to the people it rules
(dominates!),
government imposed stringent price controls, and followed that
up by the
creation of the catatonic National Incomes and Prices Commission
(NIPC). The
resultant was to destroy all business viability and
consequential monolithic
declines in product availability. Shop shelves have
now, for nearly seven
months, been almost constantly nearly bare (Zimbabwe
has been transformed
from a land of plenty to a land of empty).
Manufacturers, to survive, have
had to focus upon export markets, albeit at
minimal margins, but
nevertheless more viable than operating at NIPC
constrained
margins.
Much of the goods exported are subsequently brought back into
Zimbabwe by
cross-border traders, to be sold in the black market to
desperate, sadly
deprived, consumers at prices far, far above those as would
have prevailed
in the formal sector, had price controls not prevailed, and
market
sufficiency of product existed. So, the actuality of the situation is
that
government has markedly worsened inflation, instead of lessening it,
through
its perfidious price controls.
Side effects of those
controls, and of the resultant exacerbation of
inflation, have been
enormous. An already sickly investment environment has
been reduced to a
point of near death (compounded by stupidly formulated,
ill-conceived,
intended legislation for economic indigenization which will
do nothing but
temporarily enrich a few, will strengthen government’s
death-occasioning
stronghold on the economy, and further accelerate economic
collapse). And
the mass exodus of Zimbabweans is escalating at a tremendous
pace. The
gargantuan acceleration in the "brain drain: is fast denuding
Zimbabwe of
the greater portion of the few, greatly-needed, skilled that the
country
desperately needs. The floods of people fleeing to other economies
are
cyclonic, impacting tragically upon all facets of Zimbabwe, be it
economically or sociologically.
As the economy’s collapse
intensifies, so too does governmental insolvency,
for fiscal inflows
inevitably decline, in real terms, apace with economic
decline. The combined
economic ills of hyperinflation, brain drain,
inflation-driven
non-generation of foreign exchange, and fiscal penury are
also impacting
upon the infrastructure, and parastatals service delivery,
worsening all
further. Underlying all of this is the incontestable idiocy of
price
controls and, therefore, the operations of the NIPC.
If has been said
before, and it is still so: Government is vested, even
though
unintentionally so, with a death wish, for its phobias are so intense
and
destructive as to know no bounds.
Zim Independent
Comment
LAST week this paper carried news that former Finance
minister Simba
Makoni and other political luminaries such as Ibbo Mandaza
and Wilfred
Mhanda were planning to establish a reform wing within Zanu PF.
There were
even suggestions this may culminate in a separate
party.
This development will clearly address a manifest need:
Zimbabwe needs
a leader who can show the people how to dig themselves out of
the gaping
hole President Mugabe and his party have dug for them. Mugabe
evidently can’t.
He thinks our problems can be solved by slogans and
marches.
But it must be obvious to even the most obtuse elements in
Zanu PF
that he doesn’t have a clue how to solve the country’s myriad
problems or
chart a path to recovery and prosperity.
The
Movement for Democratic Change has some idea of what needs to be
done. It
has both policies that address immediate economic needs and a
template for
institutional reform that will break the mould of tyranny and
fist-waving
that we have come to associate with Mugabe’s blind, bigoted
party.
But it needs more than a series of rallies to get the
political
process moving. While Morgan Tsvangirai has shown courage in
facing down the
dictator, he appears to have lost his stomach for the
fight.
You would expect a leader and his party ahead of an election
to be
countering the specious propaganda of Zanu PF and its lame excuses for
misgovernance at every turn. But we have heard nothing from the party of
opposition.
Are they keeping their powder dry for some future
encounter? It doesn’t
look like it. Instead they seem to be asleep at the
watch. Their agreement
to amend Aippa without consulting the media is
nothing short of scandalous
and is already being used to good effect by the
regime’s spokesmen.
Which is where Makoni comes in. He knows what
needs to be done. And he
has a bright and experienced team to support him.
He is probably sensible in
keeping his distance from the MDC at this time.
He is courting a
cross-section of voters and doesn’t want to be seen as
beholden to a
quarrelsome and divided opposition.
Zimbabweans
are looking for a leader that will provide some hope for
the immediate
future and he provides it.
But he must come out of the shadows and
plant his political standard
firmly in the national soil. He needs to take
on the derelict leadership of
his party by setting out his policies on
economic reform, reengagement with
the international community, and
agricultural renewal. The last thing we
need are more empty slogans about
sovereignty.
Once he has established his credentials and tested his
support he can
reach out to other political players.
But time
is of the essence. Makoni has large amounts of goodwill going
for him both
at home and abroad. He needs to tap into those reserves and set
out his
electoral stall. He is an experienced administrator who is known and
respected by Sadc leaders and by the international lenders we need to
court.
Mugabe once described him as an "economic saboteur" because
he
advocated devaluation. Since then the Zimbabwe dollar has plunged to
unimaginable levels.
Makoni understands that his first priority
is stamping on the fires of
inflation set alight by fiscal profligacy. He
also knows a bit about the
press having been the victim of political
meddling at Zimpapers.
Much will be expected of him. Can he match
up to the challenge?
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
By Joram Nyathi
"NO power means no
pumping. We cannot provide water when there is no
power," said Water
Resources and Infrastructural Development minister
Munacho Mutezo in
response to the water crisis playing out in Harare and
Chitungwiza. "Morton
Jaffray (waterworks) should be treated like the
intensive care unit by both
parties."
The implication was that Zesa Holdings and Zinwa were to
blame for the
water shortage.
Before that, Zinwa general
manager Lisben Chipfunde had warned that
Harare and Chitungwiza residents
should brace themselves for a week without
water. He blamed this on
intermittent power supplies by Zesa Holdings. The
spokesperson for the power
utility, Fullard Gwasira said it was Zinwa’s
responsibility to raise money
for the installation of a third dedicated
feeder power line to the
waterworks to avoid disruptions.
"We have advised them of the costs
involved and we are awaiting their
response as regards the way forward,"
said Gwasira.
This was a week when Zesa power outages were more
frequent and longer
than previous load-sheddings; Chihota villagers in
Mashonaland East
announced that they were using raw human waste as manure
because there is no
fertiliser on the formal market or they can’t afford it;
and a consultant in
water and sanitation advised urban councils to "relax
sanitation bylaws" and
allow residents to build pit latrines on their
premises to cater for
emergencies caused by frequent water
shortage.
It was a week when the two-month-old cash crisis became
most manifest
as parents scrambled to pay school fees, buy uniforms and
groceries for
their children, and provide bus-fares. It was a week when
everything that
could go wrong chose to go wrong.
Bad policies
have become the hallmark of the Zanu PF government. For
years the people of
Zimbabwe have endured arrogant incompetence masquerading
as policy. Food
shortages have become synonymous with every agricultural
season while the
fuel shortage has become a way of life. Nobody seems to
have a solution
beyond defending the revolution.
But never did I imagine that it
would get to this despicable depth
where we would use human excreta as
fertiliser when five years ago we had
companies which could support the
whole farming sector. Nor did I imagine it
possible that as a health
precaution, we would be advised to revert to the
bucket toilet system and
pit latrines in what should be a modern capital
city.
Lack of
clean water has already claimed a few lives from waterborne
diseases. While
some Harare residents may be alarmed by the inconvenience of
a week without
water, residents of Tafara and Mabvuku have gone for more
than a year
without potable water. In the main, Bulawayo residents have
given up hope of
central government coming to their rescue, hence their
demand for a federal
system which will allow them to sort out their
priorities.
Self-important state apologists attribute these grave grievances to
imperialist influences. Perhaps the same imperialists are recommending pit
latrines for Harare and Chitungwiza to undermine the revolution. The
effrontery of it is staggering.
The real problem is that
everyone in authority is in denial. Zesa says
it is not our fault. Zinwa
says it is not our fault. And the ratepayers are
left high, dry and in the
dark as the blame game assumes a life of its own.
In a way, Zinwa
has a point in denying culpability. In taking over the
supply of bulk in
urban areas, it was fulfilling a cabinet directive, so we
are told. It has
never claimed any competence in this field. When they say
they are not to be
blame, in their ambiguity they are blaming those who
issued the
directive.
Every month they are happy to announce the latest city
or town where
they have taken over the role of supplying water. It doesn’t
mean they will
supply any. And service delivery has deteriorated sharply
since Zinwa took
over that unenviable task from Local Government minister
Ignatious Chombo’s
commissions. Not that they were any better, having
themselves been imposed
on urban ratepayers to spite freely-elected MDC
councillors.
What is evident from this convergence of crises is
that government has
never learnt to plan and formulate any workable policies
in anticipation of
growing urban populations. While it has built token
housing projects in
addition to those inherited from the colonial era, there
is no evidence of a
conscious effort to expand infrastructure in the form of
new dams and
electricity generation.
For some strange reason,
it was hoped that through the disastrous
Operation Murambatsvina in 2005
government could kill two birds with one
stone: lessen the strain on urban
infrastructure by reducing overcrowding in
the townships, and defuse a
political time-bomb by chasing the lumpen
proletariat into remote communal
lands away from the MDC influence. This has
not worked.
The
long and short of it is that the entire government administrative
system is
in the intensive care unit. The chickens are coming home to roost.
Zim Independent
Editor's Memo
By Joram Nyathi
"YOU saw and heard
what happened in Kenya. It’s nothing compared to
what we will have here if
Mugabe rigs the elections again. You can’t have a
thief rob you twice and
let him keep his hands."
These deplorable words were attributed by
the media to Kuwadzana MP,
Nelson Chamisa when he addressed a rally in
Harare at the weekend. There
have been attempts by Chamisa since then to
claim lamely that he was in fact
misquoted.
He said
disingenuously that he couldn’t have made those threats of
violence even if
the harmonised March elections are rigged because he has
been a victim of
violence himself.
Even if we were to be charitable and give Chamisa
the benefit of the
doubt, it would still need to be done with a serious
caveat: that this is a
party whose leaders have never known the simple old
adage about looking
before you leap. They have proved very reckless with
their mouths and minds
but are quick to cry "wolf" when those who wield the
instruments of state
call their bluff.
In my column last week I
wrote of these "opportunistic and
self-serving lessons" from the
post-election violence in Kenya following the
controversial reelection of
Mwai Kibaki. I stated there that inducing people
to vote in a certain way
for fear of violence should the election result be
disputed amounts to
"democracy by fear". Such an outcome doesn’t represent
the free will of the
people, it doesn’t matter how hated the Akambeni
president might
be.
That was meant as an appeal for maturity on all the political
parties
and their politicians as Zimbabweans prepare for the elections in
March. I
didn’t know somebody like Chamisa could miss that point and still
go on to
agitate for violence in the event that the "usual" external
observers decide
to declare the vote "stolen". This is the same party that
daily preaches
"change" and we naively assume that change includes an end to
the culture of
violence and respect for the rule of law. I must say I am
distressed.
I can’t even imagine the hue and cry we would have
heard from the MDC
and its allies if the ruling Zanu PF had raised the
prospect of a bloodbath
if it loses the election. There would have been a
huge outcry about
voter-intimidation and an escalation of
violence.
Another lesson from the Kenyan election which should have
been evident
to Honourable Chamisa, a lesson which should be learnt by his
colleagues so
that they guard their mouths, is that people are fickle and
love gratuitous
violence once they are provided with a little tinder. The
trouble is that
once the violence starts and thugs join in, then it assumes
a life of its
own, well beyond Chamisa’s powers.
We have warned
over the years of the party’s indecisiveness when it
comes to election time.
Whatever the allegations of rigging against Zanu PF,
this lack of
decisiveness has always played to Zanu PF’s advantage.
When a party
is undecided whether or not to participate in an election
until the last
minute, three things are likely to happen: its supporters
will be reluctant
to register to vote and so will not vote. Naturally they
will be turned away
from the polling station and the MDC will cry foul but
forget its role in
this whole thing.
Secondly, once the message is stressed too often
that the vote will be
rigged and that the outcome is "predetermined" then
there is no need for
people to go and cast their vote. Then we get the usual
noise where apathy
is the victor.
In any case, a party which
goes into an election vowing not to accept
a certain outcome is predisposing
its supporters to violence. It is telling
its supporters: "Don’t accept
loss, hack off innocent people’s hands so that
we have a bargaining chip to
get into power." such a party is dangerous.
We all know what a mess
the Zanu PF government has made of this
beautiful country because all they
can ever come up with are survival rather
than development policies. A
challenge we have also posed to the MDC is to
sell the people their policies
on how they intend to reverse the economic
slide and break the political
deadlock in the country. It is a challenge
they have refused to take, we are
told, because Zanu PF will "steal" their
policies.
Instead, we
are again told, they want a complete breakdown of
everything so that when
they come in and put things right. This is all
evident in threats that if
they boycott the elections, Zimbabwe will be
further isolated and things
will only get worse. Is this the mentality and
spirit of a people’s party?
So people must continue to suffer because only
the MDC can end the country’s
isolation, and only the MDC can confer
legitimacy on the
election?
Now we have these threats of Kenyan-style havoc should
they suspect
that the elections have been stolen, even if their supporters
didn’t
register because of confusion in the leadership, and were therefore
nowhere
near the polling station on election day?
Chamisa's statement is irresponsible
By Andrea
Sibanda
IT’S intriguing for Nelson Chamisa (MDC Tsvangirai
spokesperson) in
his campaign speech on January 12, to utter an
irresponsible statement in
which he likens the Kenyan ethnic cleansing to
what may happen in Zimbabwe
should Robert Mugabe steal the election again.
For someone who poses as a
spokesperson for any political party, it’s
prudent that he undertakes some
research on the subject before issuing a
malicious statement.
As a spokesperson for his faction, he should
have noted that the
Kenyan situation is quite different from Zimbabwe’s in
that in Kenya the
opposition is led by a different ethnic group from the
dominant Kikuyu like
Shonas in Zimbabwe. The opposition leader in Kenya
(Raila Odinga) does not
belong to the dominant group.
This
makes the situation different from Zimbabwe’s where the main
opposition
parties are led by the dominant ethnic group (Shonas) who have
over the
years caused massive suffering to other groups since independence
in
1980.Should there be clashes after the stealing of elections, who is the
MDC
going to fight or antagonise? It has to be one ethnic group amongst
themselves over their own mess. How improbable!
Frankly
speaking, the majority ethnic group should have long revolted
against their
master (Mugabe) who has unashamedly ruined the country and
vows to continue
his destruction.
As far as we’re concerned as a people of
Matabeleland, we shall not
partake in that scramble in Chamisa’s context. We
shall however continue to
fight for our rights and freedoms that have been
deliberately trampled upon.
We shall intensify our fight so that our
treatment as second and third class
citizens even in opposition parties
ceases. The pretensions of a few
misguided clique from the defunct PF-Zapu
who have been used and are still
in use have done nothing for Matabeleland.
Any reasonable person sees that
the structuring of the MDC is microcosmic of
the falling Zanu PF which has
alienated the other part of the
country.
Chamisa’s statement is irresponsible, misleading and
immature. Has he
ever thought about how we feel as the marginalised groups
or does he care?
Has he ever known or thought that we (Ndebeles) also want
to rule Zimbabwe
better as the initiators of nationalism through our hero
Joshua Nkomo? Does
he know that the struggle for a meaningful Zimbabwe was
hijacked by the
so-called majority who have thus brought a lot of misery
instead?
* Andrea Sibanda is Secretary General of the MFP
Johannesburg.
--------------------------
MPs must not take
politics as life career
WITH only two months left for the historic
harmonised elections —
providing a chance, God willing, to liberate Zimbabwe
hopefully once and for
all — I am surprised that the MDC leadership is still
dithering on whether
to unite before the polls.
I read almost
daily that the issue stopping the potential unification
is that some sitting
MDC MPs want to cling on to their constituencies
without going through
primary elections just for the silly reason that their
terms were cut short
by two years. These are the people who cry for
democracy day in and day out
while they are trying to hang on to their dear
"jobs" as MPs.
Politics is not a life career; it’s not employment. Politics is
service to
the people, whether for one day or for 10 years. But politicians
must get
the mandate to serve from the people.
It is a shame that the noble
idea to achieve unity will be scuttled by
a few selfish people. I doubt very
much if some of our politicians are there
to serve Zimbabwe and its
people.
Power indeed corrupts. One point that the MDC MPs should
remember is
that people did not elect them because of their election
promises or their
standing in society. People voted for the party above
individuals.
They should ask former MP Munyaradzi Gwisai. He will
tell them the
truth about MDC supporters.
Although there is a
great potential of dividing votes in favour of
Zanu PF in the event that
Arthur Mutambara and Welshman Ncube choose to
cause confusion through
fielding separate candidates, I don’t think it will
be of great
significance.
I am sure the people of Zimbabwe know what they want,
who they want to
govern them and in the case of the MDC I am sure there is
no need for
debate. MDC supporters know their leader in Gwanda, Matobo,
Nyanga and
Buhera, and across Zimbabwe people only know Morgan
Tsvangirai.
So if the MDC unites it is only because some members of
the breakaway
faction now realise that their political careers could be over
within two
months.
Take Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga in Glen
View. Can she stand a
chance against any candidate supported by Tsvangirai
and Tendai Biti?
Take Job Sikhala in St Mary’s. Does he stand a
chance against any
candidate representing the mainstream MDC of
Tsvangirai?
People have short memories. I remember in 2000, soon
after elections
we had to move around with Remius Makuwaza introducing him
to the people way
after he had won the elections. When the people voted they
were just looking
for the MDC symbol, not the individual
candidate.
The MDC started as a project to liberate Zimbabwe and
that dream goes
on with or without anyone who thinks he or she is so
important that Zimbabwe
cannot do without them. The struggle continues,
driven by people.
With or without unity, the people must decide who
represents them
through primary elections to avoid in-fighting and permanent
damage within
the movement. Anyone who dreams of retaining a seat unopposed
must join any
undemocratic party they want.
I am confident that
the Tsvangirai MDC will never allow people to hang
on to their seats without
going through primaries. Nobody should be above
the MDC except for the
masses.
Elijah Mangwengwende,
Harare.
----------------
Gono meant 'cash
barren'
I WRITE in support of my valiant central bank governor,
Gideon Gono.
He is currently under a barrage of criticism for his dismally
failed
policies, the latest being the cash crisis still very evident
throughout the
country today.
Very unfortunately, it appears
Gono’s detractors never understood him
from the onset. On his inception as
central bank chief, Gono boldly declared
"failure was not an option" and he
stands by that statement today.
If I may shed light to his daft
antagonists, what the good doctor
actually meant was that failure is "not an
option but a clear certainty".
And by "cash baron", he meant "cash
barren" — this was just a
typographical error which the overzealous print
media as usual blew out of
proportion.
So, my good friends, the
governor is spot-on! Failure is a certainty
and we shall be cash-barren for
a very long time to come.
Leave my gallant governor
alone.
Raymond Samakapukapu,
Norton.
---------------------
Anyone seen
Mudenge?
LOST is the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. He
was last
seen months after the swearing in ceremony by His Excellency.
Anyone with
information on his whereabouts can inform any university or
college student
or preferably yours truly.
He goes by the name
Stanislaus Gorerazvo Mudenge.
The minister is surely not doing his
job or else the president forgot
to tell him his duties besides enjoying the
comfort of his office. Zimbabwe’s
education system is on the brink of
collapse and the relevant authorities
have a role to play including the lost
minister.
There are no lecturers at universities and students are
forced to
attend three lectures before sitting for an examination. The
question is
whether the universities are producing fully baked graduates or
graduates
who have developed an art of passing exams.
What the
authorities are good at is appearing on "the nation’s
favourite TV station"
boasting about the good education system of
yesteryear. In fact, I don’t
recall the last time I heard Mudenge talking
about the education crisis in
the country. He just keeps quiet and pretends
as if everything is
okay.
The learning environment is just pathetic with no modern
learning
equipment like projectors. The computers are very few and out of
those few
most of them are not functional.
A student is just
allowed one hour on a computer at the National
University of Science and
Technology library. And at many occasions there
will be no electricity at
campus so how can we do our projects?
The main problem affecting
the country right now is the transport
crisis and any reasonable man would
expect the most vulnerable group
(students) to be protected from such.
However, nobody feels for the students
and the Zupco buses which used to
ferry students have since disappeared just
like the minister. Commuter
omnibus operators have taken advantage of this
and charge exorbitant fares
especially in the rainy season.
The government must have its
students at heart.
Kudakwashe Karupa,
Bulawayo.
----------------------
Save Tsholotsho from
Moyo
THE article "Moyo in alliance with MDC to save Tsholotsho"
(Zimbabwe
Independent, January 11) refers.
While I am all for a
united opposition front to confront Zanu PF in
the forthcoming elections, I
take great exception to the MDC teaming up with
Jonathan Moyo in a bid to
save the Tsholotsho seat.
Instead, Tsholotsho needs to be saved
from Moyo. The MDC should know
better than be seen associating with the
professor.
Moyo’s tenure in Zanu PF is well-documented. He is the
man who never
passed any opportunity to vilify the MDC, often portraying it
as a bunch of
power-hungry, unpatriotic British-sponsored
puppets.
Lest we forget, Moyo is also a cunning and calculative
intellectual
out to save his skin because he knows that his political
epitaph is already
written.
It is my hope that Moyo is finally
obliterated from the political
landscape in the next
elections.
Joseph Mhlanga,
Dublin,
Ireland.